2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 259: Early Research Scholars Program Update and Reflection Study

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session

This conference paper provides an update on the Early Research Scholars Program (ERSP) background, structure, and implementation at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), developed at the University of California San Diego and funded by the National Science Foundation Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program. The program aims to support retention of students from marginalized backgrounds in the fields of computing as well as electrical and computer engineering. This paper provides program updates, including data from the 2022-2023 academic year and preliminary results from a reflection study that began in spring 2020. The reflection study examined the impact of the ERSP on a student's computing and engineering identity development based on student reflection responses. In this paper, we also discuss student demographics, retention rates, and changes made to the program's curriculum at UIC. The evaluation results from the last three years of the program are also shared, which show how students are impacted by the program, as well as areas for improvement. Preliminary results show that the program has positively impacted students' computing or engineering identity development for at least three identity dimensions: recognition, competence, and community.

Authors

Dr. Renata A. Revelo The University of Illinois, Chicago [biography]

Renata A. Revelo is a first-generation college student, who migrated from Ecuador to the United States as a teenager with her parents and sister. She is the first in her family to obtain a Ph.D. She is currently a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her research focuses on shifting the culture of engineering via the study of engineering identity which centers on students of color and examines systemic change.
Ms. Angela Beatrice Warren Lichauco University of Illinois, Chicago [biography]

Angela Beatrice Lichauco is an undergraduate student based in Chicago. She received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2023. Her research interests include cell and tissue engineering as well as engineering identities, and this is her first conference paper in the field of engineering education.
Anastasiia Rozhkova [biography]

Anastasiia Rozhkova is a Ph.D. candidate in Electrical Engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Her research is in the area of electromagnetics, focusing on electromagnetics scattering and antenna design. In the past academic year, she served as a graduate student mentor for Early Research Scholars Program at UIC.
Diana Diaz

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