I-3 Experience: Expanding Research and Design Opportunities for Under-represented High School Students

This paper will describe a novel approach to engaging under-represented high school students in research and design opportunities at a public university. The I-3 (pronounced “I three”) Experience programs aim to engage 9th-12th grade African American, Latino, and female students in research and prototyping activities to increase and sustain their interest in computer science. From Spring 2011 – Spring 2012, 64 students have enrolled in the I-3 Experience programs. Our program has specifically targeted female and underrepresented students (African American and Latino/as): 85.94% of program participants are female and underrepresented students; 61% of our students participated in free and reduced lunch programs. The program has a 71.79% retention rate. The I-3 Experience is a series of computing afterschool and summer-enrichment programs designed for students who are interested in exploring computing but lack courses at their school or have completed all the available Computer Science (CS) courses at their school and desire to expand their computing skills. The I-3 Experience consists of three program phases: Imagine, Investigate, and Innovate. Each of these program phases engages students in computational thinking and provides opportunities and resources for them to bring their ideas to life through the design of new applications and devices. Our goal in designing this program was to build on the success of existing K-12 summer camp outreach programs offered at Georgia Tech by offering students an opportunity to pursue their interest in CS through a constructionist and project-based curriculum. As we moved the students from exposure to personalization of the technology they developed, our aim was to increase the number of students desirous of enrolling in college as computer science majors. Our overarching goal was to increase the likelihood of students who apply to computer science undergraduate degree programs. This paper will discuss the program, strategies for program success, and enrollment and participation outcomes of this year long program.