Bridging the Disciplinary Gaps in Cybersecurity Curricula through General Education, High Impact Practices, and Training for Incoming Freshmen

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Experts agree that cybersecurity is a multifaceted problem that should be addressed through an interdisciplinary framework; however, most of cybersecurity curricula are offered within specific disciplines. Developing interdisciplinary programs can be challenging with issues such as: student isolation, a disconnect between faculty from the disciplinary programs, a lack of coordination in course delivery, gaps in providing student support, and a lack of a basic interdisciplinary foundation among faculty and students alike. To address these challenges, the "Bridging the Disciplinary Gaps in Cybersecurity Curricula through General Education, High Impact Practices, and Training for Incoming Freshman" project will fully integrate student-focused high impact practices into an interdisciplinary cybersecurity major and minor at Old Dominion University. In addition, an interdisciplinary cybersecurity training module for incoming freshmen will be developed and delivered, and another interdisciplinary general education cybersecurity course will be made available through open education resources (OER). Developing an interdisciplinary general education cybersecurity course will provide students the foundation they need to learn about the topic through a multi-faceted lens.Integrating high impact practices into interdisciplinary curricula is a novel approach that will bolster the quality of cybersecurity academic programs. These will include learning communities, service learning, internships, undergraduate research projects, and e-Portfolios. The learning communities will include freshmen learning communities, sophomore learning communities, and living learning communities. Each learning community will have a peer mentor assigned. A process will be developed so cybersecurity majors can develop an electronic portfolio in their first-year general studies cybersecurity course, providing a framework for usage over the course of their studies. The development of an open education resource (OER) general studies cybersecurity course will provide a framework that other higher education institutions can use to develop similar courses. Integrating high impact practices into the curricula will provide a framework that can be replicated in other institutions. Graduates of these curricula will be able to fill those occupational cybersecurity positions that require an interdisciplinary background in multiple fields, as well as strong communications and critical thinking skills. In addition, relationships with regional agencies/employers will be formalized to develop service learning, undergraduate research, and internship opportunities.