Introduction to informatics in a Peruvian penitentiary using cs unplugged: from university to penitentiary

Abstract

Within the field of social reintegration and re-education, this paper presents an educational experience carried out at the Iquitos Penitentiary Center, Lima, Peru, with the aim of providing an introduction to informatics to 25 inmates who volunteered to take part in the project. Twenty students and a teacher from the Scientific University of the South also in Peru, were responsible for initiating the transmission of knowledge from the university to inmates, with the collaboration and participation of the penitentiary coordinator. The main objectives of the case study were to validate both the suitability of the CS unplugged proposal and the adaptability of the L2T2L pedagogic strategy to the transmission of knowledge to adults, specifically penitentiary inmates. This strategy had been originally designed to transmit informatics knowledge from university to primary school. The validity and effectiveness of the experience was assessed using surveys. Results confirm that inmates achieved a good level of understanding when endeavoring to resolve most of the CS unplugged assignments designed for them. It was also seen that L2T2L is adaptable and valid for different scenarios other than those for which it was initially designed. Indeed, it was proven to be valid for transmitting knowledge to the prison population. Finally, it should be pointed out that the experience is easily replicable and that it brings an opportunity to introduce informatics into education programs in prisons, something which can contribute enormously to social reintegration and re-education, facilitating the subsequent reentry of inmates into the community once their period of imprisonment has ended.