Computer Science Behind Bars: Lessons Learned from Teaching Incarcerated Students in Prisons and Jails
Name
3641555.3705148.pdf
Size
786.58 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Fishberg, Andrew
Gaetz, Marisa
Nisser, Martin
Cafferty, Carole
Perlman, Lee
Soicher, Raechel
Long, Joshua
Date Issued
February 18, 2025
Publisher
ACM|Proceedings of the 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2
Citation
Fishberg, Andrew, Gaetz, Marisa, Nisser, Martin, Cafferty, Carole, Perlman, Lee et al. 2025. "Computer Science Behind Bars: Lessons Learned from Teaching Incarcerated Students in Prisons and Jails."
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Educational programs for incarcerated individuals, often called "behind bars" initiatives, have been shown to improve participants' social and economic outcomes upon release. Since its founding in 2018, MIT's Education Justice Institute (TEJI) has offered accredited classes for incarcerated students, with an increasing focus on computer education. Our courses have been delivered both in person and remotely (e.g., via Zoom). In this poster, we share insights into the challenges present in the incarcerated education environment, and highlight how remote learning offers unique advantages to incarcerated students. We also present preliminary findings from two years of data collected across four recurring computer science courses. This poster aims to foster a dialogue with the broader computer science education community, focusing on: (i) qualitative insights gained from extensive interactions with incarcerated education systems, (ii) preliminary empirical results obtained through IRB-approved surveys, (iii) common challenges faced during data collection, and (iv) an opportunity to seek feedback and pose questions to computer science education experts.
Description
SIGCSE TS 2025, February 26-March 1, 2025, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mathematics
MIT Experimental Study Group
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Teaching and Learning Laboratory
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1145/3641555.3705148
