Developing Computational Adversarial Thinking: Bridging Technical Skills Training and Academic Coursework

缺乏基本网络安全技能的软件开发人员在全国范围内的短缺是有据可查的。这种短缺是职业技术教育与传统学位道路之间分歧的结果。一方面，许多IT专业人员了解网络安全的技术方面，从安装防火墙到取证，但需要额外的软件开发技能。另一方面，计算机科学家/开发人员（即，那些追求标准学术培训的人）了解软件开发，但缺乏对抗性思维（AT）技能。该项目的目标是通过帮助学生发展AT技能来提高网络意识。这个项目将调查使用AT在计算机科学和非计算机科学专业的入门计算课程的影响。通过在社区和技术学院一级的计算程序中注入AT教育，该项目将加强前两年的计算教育，并增加德克萨斯州埃尔帕索边境地区合格软件开发人员的数量。该项目将通过在课程中注入AT和分析，并开发课外活动，通过体验式学习提供社区实践，来解决计算机科学课程基础中对AT知识和技能的最小重视。新举措包括为非专业人员开发计算机科学课程，将在多学科环境中引入AT;在计算机科学课程的基础知识中注入AT模块;为学生，教学助理和专业人士提供专业发展机会，以了解计算中的AT概念;以及学生比赛（也称为Hackathons）的发展。该项目将提供基于AT和分析的新型教学法，作为计算思维的延伸。最佳做法和内容材料将在一个公共储存库中共享，供世界各地的教育工作者使用。该项目由先进技术教育计划资助，该计划侧重于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域培养技术人员。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。

The national shortage of software developers who lack basic cybersecurity skills is well-documented. This shortage is a result of a divergence between career technical education and traditional academic degree paths. On the one hand, many IT professionals understand the technical aspects of cybersecurity, from installing firewalls to forensics, but require additional software development skills. On the other hand, computer scientists/developers (i.e., those who have pursued standard academic training) understand software development but lack adversarial thinking (AT) skills. The goal of this project is to increase cyber awareness by helping students to develop AT skills. This project will investigate the impact of using AT in introductory computing courses for computer science and non-computer science majors. By infusing AT education in computing programs at the community and technical college level, this project will enhance the first two years of education in computing and increase the number of qualified software developers in the borderland of El Paso, Texas. This project will address the minimal emphasis on AT knowledge and skills in the fundamentals of computer science courses by infusing AT and analytics within the curriculum and developing extracurricular activities to provide community practice through experiential learning. New initiatives include the development of a computer science course for non-majors that will introduce AT in a multidisciplinary environment; the infusion of AT modules in the fundamentals of computer science courses; professional development opportunities for students, instructional assistants, and professionals to learn about AT concepts in computing; and the development of student competitions (also known as Hackathons). This project will provide novel pedagogical teaching based on AT and analytics as an extension of computational thinking. Best practices and content material will be shared in a public repository, accessible to educators worldwide. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.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.