Leveraging existing outreach programs to reach underrepresented minorities

Abstract

Because majoring in computer science often requires taking a CS1 course by the end of one's first year in college, high school students need to be made aware of computer science as a potential major so that they can plan their college coursework accordingly. We describe two robot-based activities that were offered as part of a broader summer program aimed at preparing local high school students from groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education for college. The goal was to give these students a more accurate understanding of what computer science is and what computer scientists do, to share our excitement about computer science, and to get them to think about taking a CS1 course their first year in college. While both activities were good for exposing students to computer science, students' experiences in the two were quite different.