Education DCL: EAGER: Exploring New Pathways into Cybersecurity Careers for Rural English Learners through XR-enabled Educational Methods

防御网络安全攻击需要训练有素的网络安全工作人员。然而，工人短缺正日益威胁着美国的安全和工业增长。一个潜在的未开发资源，以帮助填补这一短缺是38%的高中生谁不参加四年制大学毕业后。这些学生中的许多人往往来自服务不足的人群，他们渴望获得更高技能的职业和中学后教育，但他们很难克服限制他们参与的障碍。该项目使用延展实境（XR）技术鼓励农村英语学习者（EL）学生考虑网络安全职业。来自爱荷华州州立大学的一个跨学科团队与爱荷华州风暴湖的合作伙伴合作领导了该项目，风暴湖是一个不断发展的农村肉类加工城镇，拥有大量移民和难民人口。该项目的新颖之处在于为EL学生设计XR资源原型，并评估其潜力，以提高学生对网络安全的兴趣。该项目更广泛的意义和重要性是帮助EL学生接受培训，以获得更高技能、更高收入的工作，从而改善其家庭条件 该项目认为，农村EL学生是未来劳动力中尚未开发的部分，具有通过证书和副学士学位等中学后途径进入网络安全领域的巨大潜力。受学生从高中过渡到中学后教育的研究差距的启发，该项目鼓励EL学生通过增加他们对该领域的兴趣和知识来考虑网络安全职业。该项目的假设是，使用沉浸式和交互式XR技术将显着提高EL学生对网络安全主题的参与度和动机，研究表明这是选择职业的重要因素。项目目标是：1.开发共同设计的支持XR的教育资源原型。2.评估这些资源是否显示与EL学生的承诺。3.分析项目结果以指导未来的研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Defending against cybersecurity attacks requires a well-trained cybersecurity workforce. Yet, worker shortages are increasingly threatening U.S. security and industrial growth. A potential untapped resource to help fill this shortage is the 38% of high school students who do not attend a four-year university after graduation. Many of these students, often from underserved populations, aspire to higher-skilled careers and postsecondary education, but they struggle to overcome barriers that limit their participation. This project uses Extended Reality (XR) technologies to encourage rural English Learner (EL) students to consider cybersecurity careers. An interdisciplinary team from Iowa State University leads the project in collaboration with partners in Storm Lake, Iowa, a growing rural meatpacking town with a large migrant and refugee population. The project's novelties are designing XR resource prototypes for EL students and evaluating their potential to increase students' interest in cybersecurity. The project's broader significance and importance are to assist EL students in training for higher-skilled, better-paid jobs that can improve conditions for their households and to bring more women and people from underserved communities into cybersecurity.This project considers rural EL students an untapped segment of the future workforce with significant potential to enter the cybersecurity field through postsecondary pathways such as certificates and associate degrees. Inspired by gaps in research on student transitions from high school into postsecondary education, this project encourages EL students to consider a cybersecurity career by increasing their interest and knowledge of the field. The project hypothesis is that using immersive and interactive XR technologies will significantly improve EL students' engagement and motivation with cybersecurity topics, which research shows are essential factors in choosing a career. The project goals are to: 1. Develop prototypes of co-designed XR-enabled educational resources. 2.Assess if these resources show promise with EL students. 3. Analyze project findings to guide future research.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.