Introduction to the Solar System in a medium security prison
Abstract
There were 1.5 million men and women incarcerated in state and federal prisons in the United States in 2016 (Kaeble & Cowhig, 2018). 700,000 of these individuals are released each year, of which 40% will return to prison within 3 years (Gelb & Valazquez, 2018). Educational programs have been shown to reduce recidivism and increase employment rates (Davis et al., 2016). The Metropolitan College at Boston University operates a prison education program (BUPEP) at Massachusetts state correctional facilities. We developed an introductory astronomy course for BUPEP that utilized active learning strategies and peer instruction. We taught the course twice in a medium security men's prison in which BUPEP has an established community college program. The course, "Introduction to the Solar System," served approximately 20 students each of the two semesters it was taught. In this contribution, we discuss the need for programs such as this, our course structure, and recommendations for future instructors. This work was supported by a National Science Foundation Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to E. Newton under award #1602597
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #233
- Pub Date:
- January 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AAS...23325704N