Reconfiguring Physics Assessment for Incarcerated Students – Changing how we think about practical experiments

Reconfiguring Physics Assessment for Incarcerated Students – Changing how we think about practical experiments

One of the challenges of teaching incarcerated students is their limited (or no) access to technology. Currently, STEM subjects are taught in widening participation programs around the world including to incarcerated students. However, internationally, there appears to be no physics practicals provided as part of assessment for incarcerated students. This is in spite of the fact that doing science is as important as learning science. Experiential learning helps to develop not only higher-level graduate attributes, but also conceptual acquisition of theory, and provides insights and skills that help students in their future careers (Bradberry & De Maio, 2018). Distance education has evolved from its early days to an era of online learning driven by technological development. This transformation brought a variety of modes to substitute hands-on experimental activities (Kentnor 2015). While virtual labs can replace physical labs for acquiring conceptual knowledge (De Jong et al. 2013), they rely on the availability of internet and/or technology. Incarcerated students enrolled in science courses are therefore often unable to take advantage of these activities. Therefore, there is a necessity for a different and innovative approach to practical science activities and assessments delivered to incarcerated students, one that does not involve the use of technology and employs only available and allowed-to-use materials. The development of a novel technology-free practical assessment for physics aligns with better assessment design, develops critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills, reduced academic integrity issues, promotes educational equity, develops students’ engagement and better graduate outcomes for our students.

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