ERSP

Abstract

Research experiences for undergraduates (REUs) have many positive outcomes on students' perception of and retention in Computer Science (CS). Yet nearly all REUs are aimed at late-college students, well into a CS program. We present the Early Research Scholars Program (ERSP), a 4 quarter program designed to engage early-college (first or second year) CS students in high-quality research experiences in active research groups at a large research university. ERSP's structured course-supported group-apprentice model and its unique dual advising structure make it possible to vastly increase number of early-career CS students who participate in high-quality research experiences with little additional burden on individual faculty mentors. ERSP's focus on community building and support makes it particularly appropriate for students from groups who are traditionally underrepresented in CS. This paper reports the structure of the program and observations and learning thus-far with ERSP, with the goal of enabling others to implement this program at other large research-focused universities.