Learning by doing, remotely
Mathematics Ph.D Candidate Marisa Gaetz ‘20
From MIT News:
Experiential learning is alive and well at MIT — even when it’s remote.
…Marisa Gaetz, a 2020 MIT graduate who is staying on to pursue a PhD in mathematics, managed to tweak her ESG-PKG Fellowship for The Educational Justice Institute (TEJI) at MIT, a nonprofit that leverages education and technology to address mass incarceration.
Before the pandemic, she was planning to help facilitate a summer program for Boston-area youth who have been drawn into the criminal justice system. Instead, she adapted the in-person elements of the program into engaging online activities that encourage discussions about wrongdoing, ethical dilemmas, and moral worth. In addition, Gaetz researched interactive boards with Zoom capabilities and secured funding to install the technology in correctional facilities in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, and Maine, ensuring that TEJI can continue to offer its signature classes in these facilities.
“Even though many experiences have to be remote right now, Covid has also exposed a lot of different needs, and so there’s a lot of new opportunities to do impactful work as well,” Gaetz says.