Collaborative Research: Developing and Assessing Educational Simulations to Enhance Cyber Security Learning in Computer Science Programs

网络安全教育对国家和个人安全越来越重要。学院和大学需要让学生为他们将遇到的计算机和网络安全挑战做好准备，未来的劳动力需要具备额外的网络安全技能，以最好地保护国家的利益。计算机模拟已成功地用于许多教育领域，以吸引学生并衡量他们的学习。虽然有许多模拟可以提高网络安全意识，但大多数模拟要么针对高中生，要么需要高水平的知识才能使用。 因此，很难为大学生找到专注于高级安全主题的严肃模拟。然而，教育界需要这种类型的工具来帮助激励和吸引学生学习困难的安全概念。这种参与对于吸引和留住学生到网络安全领域尤为重要。温斯顿-塞勒姆州立大学和北卡罗来纳州A T州立大学的这个合作项目，都是历史上的黑人大学，旨在开发三个教育计算机模拟与内置的评估，有效地教授关键的网络安全概念。该项目将使两所参与大学的学生直接受益，使学生能够成为模拟的开发者和用户。该项目将有助于网络安全有效教学的知识基础，并为毕业生未来的劳动力做好更好的准备。该项目的目标是：1）开发三个带有内置评估的教育模拟，以有效地教授涉及访问控制，网络漏洞和缓冲区溢出的网络安全概念。2)将模拟整合到两所大学现有的计算机科学课程中。3)制定和实施评估方法，以衡量模拟的有效性。模拟将被设计为不同程度的困难，以针对各级本科生，从一年级学生到高年级学生。评估模拟的有效性将使用一个准实验设计，结合定量和定性数据来回答两个研究问题：1）模拟是否比讲座更有效地实现学习成果，优质的学习体验，并影响学生的态度和动机？以及2）模拟是否比其他经验学习方法更有效（例如，案例研究;实验室）实现学习成果，高质量的学习体验，并影响学生的态度和动机？模拟和研究结果将通过项目网站和其他在线场所免费提供，并将通过会议演示，期刊出版物和夏季教师研讨会传播给教师。该项目将加强北卡罗来纳州AT州立大学的网络防御中心，该中心是国家安全局和国土安全部指定的信息保障教育学术卓越中心。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Cybersecurity education is increasingly critical to national and personal security. College and universities need to prepare students for the computer and network security challenges they will encounter, and the workforce of the future needs to have additional cybersecurity skills to best protect the interests of the nation. Computer simulations have been successfully used in many areas of education to engage students and measure their learning. Although many simulations are available to increase cybersecurity awareness, most either target high school students or require high levels of knowledge to use. As a result, it is hard to find serious simulations for college students that focus on advanced security topics. However, the education community needs this type of tool to help motivate and engage students in learning difficult security concepts. This engagement is especially important for attracting and retaining students to the field of cybersecurity. This collaborative project of Winston-Salem State University and North Carolina A&T State University, both historically black universities, aims to develop three educational computer simulations with built-in assessments that effectively teach key cybersecurity concepts. The project will directly benefit students at the two participating universities, by enabling the students to be both developers and users of the simulations. This project will contribute to the knowledge base of effective teaching in cybersecurity and better prepare graduates for the future workforce.The objectives of the project are to: 1) Develop three educational simulations with built-in assessments to effectively teach cybersecurity concepts involving access control, network vulnerabilities, and buffer overflow. 2) Integrate the simulations into the existing computer science curriculum at both universities. 3) Develop and implement assessment methods to measure the effectiveness of the simulations. The simulations will be designed with different levels of difficulty to target undergraduate students at all levels, from first-year students to seniors. Assessment of the simulations' effectiveness will use a quasi-experimental design together with both quantitative and qualitative data to answer two research questions: 1) Is the simulation more effective than a lecture for achieving learning outcomes, a quality learner experience, and influencing student attitudes and motivation? and 2) Is the simulation more effective than other experiential learning approaches (e.g., case study; lab) for achieving learning outcomes, a quality learner experience, and influencing student attitudes and motivation? The simulations and research findings will be publically available through the project website and other on-line venues, and will be disseminated to faculty via conference presentations, journal publications, and a summer faculty workshop. This project will strengthen the North Carolina A&T State University's Center for Cyber Defense, a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education designated by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.