EAGER: SaTC-EDU: Designing and Evaluating Curricular Modules for Inclusive Integration of Artificial Intelligence into Cybersecurity

在当今瞬息万变的威胁格局中，人工智能(AI)技术已成为网络安全研究人员和从业者的关键技术。将人工智能纳入网络安全课程越来越有必要，以更好地为未来的网络劳动力做好准备，但也是一项严峻的挑战。人工智能和网络安全都是很难学习的领域，对不同类型的学生有吸引力，个别学生需要在固定学分时间内做出重大承诺。此外，这些挑战给小规模群体(如西班牙裔)带来了更多障碍，他们中的许多人已经站在了“数字鸿沟”的错误一边。这个急切的项目提出了解决以下问题：如何将人工智能整合到已经排满的网络安全课程中，以及如何在不进一步使小规模群体处于不利地位的情况下做到这一点？尽管该项目将侧重于小规模群体，但教育单元的设计将着眼于文化并包容更广泛的人群，因此将把该项目的影响扩大到任何不符合该领域陈规定型观念和规范性期望的潜在计算机科学家。这项研究的结果有可能扩大和重新定义谁追求网络安全，以及我们如何将其纳入课程。这个渴望的项目将追求三个重点，旨在解决将人工智能有效地整合到网络安全课程中的难题，同时仔细关注这些整合对小规模群体的影响，特别是针对西班牙裔学生。首先，项目组将设计适应性强的AI课程模块，这些模块可以很容易地被非AI网络安全教育人员利用，并插入到现有的网络安全课程中，每个模块都与一套潜在的插入点相关联。其次，这些模块将包括机器学习(ML)和自然语言处理(NLP)。像NLP这样的话题已经被证明增加了计算机科学对不同人群的吸引力。最后，项目组将在课程级别评估这些模块在服务于不同人群的现有网络安全计划中的有效性。需要解决的具体研究问题包括：(1)教师如何感知内容的有效性？(2)教师参与课程改革的因素是什么？(3)人工智能融入网络安全课程的障碍或考虑因素是什么？(4)学生如何感知内容有效性？(5)这些模块对兴趣、参与度和认同感有什么(如果有的话)影响？该项目响应了在网络安全和人工智能的交叉点上推进教育研究的呼吁，通过一种充分相互依存和整合的方法，利用该团队的专业知识。它还利用被广泛接受的理论框架和方法来评估和评估工作的有效性，以确保未来扩大的高影响力和潜力。该项目由安全和值得信赖的网络空间(SATC)计划的一个特别倡议支持，该计划旨在促进网络安全、人工智能和教育领域之间的新的、以前未探索的合作。SATC计划与联邦网络安全研究和发展战略计划和国家隐私研究战略保持一致，以保护和维护网络系统日益增长的社会和经济效益，同时确保安全和隐私。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In today’s ever-changing threat landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques have become a key technology for cybersecurity researchers and practitioners. Integrating AI into cybersecurity curricula is increasingly necessary to better prepare the future cyber workforce but is also a serious challenge. AI and cybersecurity are each difficult areas of study, appeal to different types of students, and individually require significant commitments within a fixed number of credit hours. Moreover, these challenges pose further barriers for minoritized groups (e.g., Hispanics), many of whom are already on the wrong side of the "digital divide". This EAGER project proposes to address the following questions: how can AI be integrated into an already packed cybersecurity curriculum, and how can this be done without further disadvantaging minoritized groups? Although this project will focus on minoritized groups, the educational modules will be designed to be culturally mindful and inclusive of a broader population and therefore will extend the project’s impact to any potential computer scientist who does not conform to the stereotypes and normative expectations of the field. The results of this study have the potential to expand and redefine who pursues cybersecurity, as well as how we integrate it into the curriculum. This EAGER project will pursue three thrusts designed to address the difficult problem of integrating AI effectively into cybersecurity curricula while attending carefully to the effect of these integrations on minoritized groups, focusing specifically on Hispanic students. First, the project team will design highly adaptable AI curricular modules that can easily be leveraged by non-AI cybersecurity educators and inserted into existing cybersecurity courses, with each module associated with a suite of potential insertion points. Second, these modules will include machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP). Topics such as NLP have been shown to increase the appeal of computer science for diverse populations. Last, the project team will evaluate the effectiveness of these modules at the curriculum-level within existing cybersecurity programs that serve a diverse population. The specific research questions to be addressed will include: (1) How did instructors perceive the content’s efficacy? (2) What factors influence an instructor's participation in curricular change? (3) What are the obstacles or considerations for AI integration into cybersecurity curricula? (4) How do students perceive content efficacy? (5) What (if any) influence do the modules have on interest, engagement, and identity? This project answers the call for advances in education research at the intersection of cybersecurity and AI through a fully interdependent and integrated approach that draws on the expertise of the team. It also leverages widely accepted theoretical frameworks and methods to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of the work to ensure high impact and potential for future scale-up.This project is supported by a special initiative of the Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program to foster new, previously unexplored, collaborations between the fields of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and education. The SaTC program aligns with the Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan and the National Privacy Research Strategy to protect and preserve the growing social and economic benefits of cyber systems while ensuring security and privacy.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.