As part of a NSF S-STEM program, cohorts of students participate in an intensive five-week summer research program, Early Active STEM Experience (EASE), prior to matriculating as first-year students. Through EASE, pairs of incoming students join existing research teams participating in our summer research program, thereby creating horizontal and vertical cohorts. The students participate in weekly interdisciplinary research meetings and present their research results at a culminating poster session. Exposing the scholars very early in their academic career to the challenges of research aims to develop their critical thinking skills and build confidence in their ability to perform at a high level as scientists. The goals of EASE are to improve first-year retention and persistence to graduation as STEM majors and to enable the cohort to be more productive and independent in subsequent undergraduate research experiences. The development, structure, and efficacy of the program to date will be explored.

EASE: A pre-matriculation intensive research experience to promote student success and retention in STEM

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.