Implementing Cybersecurity into the Wisconsin K-12 Classroom

Cybersecurity is a field that has seen its workforce demands rising steadily throughout the past decade. Although the Wisconsin Department of Administration has been actively encouraging collaboration efforts between the public and private sectors and promoting cybersecurity as a promising career path, the demand for cybersecurity professionals continues to be greater than the supply, which is a trend noticed also nationwide. The state of Wisconsin is facing several challenges in attempting to promote cybersecurity including limited security curricula resources, lack of programs and other initiatives that promote security principles, and lack of awareness of cybersecurity risks. In this paper, we discuss the major challenges Wisconsin is facing towards establishing proper cyber hygiene for the general population and growing the cybersecurity work force. In addition, we suggest ways to overcome or lessen the effect of the identified issues

Trusted CI Experiences in Cybersecurity and Service to Open Science

This article describes experiences and lessons learned from the Trusted CI project, funded by the US National Science Foundation to serve the community as the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. Trusted CI is an effort to address cybersecurity for the open science community through a single organization that provides leadership, training, consulting, and knowledge to that community. The article describes the experiences and lessons learned of Trusted CI regarding both cybersecurity for open science and managing the process of providing centralized services to a broad and diverse community.Comment: 8 pages, PEARC '19: Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing, July 28-August 1, 2019, Chicago, IL, US

Exploring Cybersecurity Education at the K-12 Level

K-12 cybersecurity education is receiving growing attention with the growing number of cyberattacks and a shortage of cybersecurity professionals. However, there are many barriers for teachers to implement effective cybersecurity education in formal classroom environments. This study conducts a systematic literature review to examine the current state-of-the-art on K-12 cybersecurity education. Through the systematic literature review, we identified 20 closely relevant papers and recognized that a well-designed curriculum in cybersecurity education at the K-12 level is strongly needed to motivate students to pursue cybersecurity pathways and careers. The challenge and suggestions of curriculum design, teaching strategy, and learning assessment are summarized and discussed

Growing Computer Science and Information Technology Education in K-12: Industry Demand and Ecosystem Support

Demand for IT skills has grown dramatically in the last decade. Companies have realized that they need more people to fill roles in their IT departments, and modern life increasingly relies on being able to navigate digital environments and use digital tools. Many school districts have responded to these demands by attempting to increase their offerings of computer science and information technology coursework. In this paper, we describe one region’s effort to support K-12 schools in increasing digital skills for all students and the pipeline of IT professionals. We describe three approaches taken by three school districts to respond to these efforts in collaboration with local industry and other institutions. One school district partnered closely with local higher education institutions to offer early college classes, another focused on providing robust computer science courses of their own to high school students, and the third focused on developing broad digital skills especially at the grade school level (K-8). We argue that the collaboration maturation of efforts in the region allowed school districts to expand computer science offerings more easily and to use regional partnerships to increase the likelihood of being successful with their efforts

Crafting a Degree, Empowering Students, Securing a Nation: The Creation of a Modern Cyber Security Degree for the 21st Century

To create the next generation of skilled university graduates that would help in filling the national need for cybersecurity, digital forensics, and mobile computing professionals, a team of minority/under-represented graduate students, the University Upward Bound Program (a federally funded program and part of the U.S. Department of Education; one of 967 programs nationwide) staff, and faculty from the Computer Science (CS) department got together and proposed a focused 10-week long funded summer camp for two local high schools with the following objectives: 1. Provide graduate students to instruct in the areas of` mobile application development, forensics and cyber Security 2. Provide CS one-on-one mentors for students while conducting their work-based learning experience in Computer Science 3. Assign hands-on interdisciplinary projects that emphasize the importance of STEM fields when using and developing software applications. 4. Promote and develop soft skills among participants including leadership, communications skills, and teamwork. 5. The proposal was funded, and the summer camps were conducted in the summer of 2019 with participation of more than 40 students from two local high schools. 6. The paper will present our efforts in each of the above areas: 7. The criteria/application/selection of high school student based on interest and needs. 8. The criteria/specification for purchased equipment 9. The selection and hiring of graduate students as instructors who can not only teach, but also serve as role models for the incoming students. 10. The development of course material into two parts: foundational material required by everyone, and specialized material where the student selects his/her area of interest. Presented results will show how the summer-camps benefited the students through the focused instruction given by graduate students, and how the students gained valuable knowledge and problem-solving skills in certain STEM fields. 11. The mentorship provided by the CS faculty to the instructors and the students through scheduled visits and agile approach for the software projects assigned. 12. The development of soft skills: how the planned social activities helped in honing the students software skills and allowed them to interact with people from all over the world (through faculty mentorship, conference attendance, project presentation), and prepared them academically and socially for their upcoming university experience. By presenting our study, we hope that other institutions who are considering summer camps can benefit from our experience by adopting best practices while avoiding pitfall

Investigating fifth-grade students’ conceptions of fractions on the number line

In this study, clinical interviews focusing on students’ understanding of fractions as numbers on the number line were conducted with six fifth-grade students both before and after an intervention designed by teacher-researchers. Although in general students demonstrated improved understanding of fraction concepts even in situations requiring reversible thinking, difficulties in finding benchmarks on the number line and a limited awareness of density of fractions on the number line persisted among students

Aligning Cybersecurity in Higher Education with Industry Needs

Cybersecurity is among the highest in-demand skills for Information Systems graduates and therefore is critical for the Information Systems curriculum. There is a substantial lack of skilled cybersecurity graduates. It is estimated that there is a global shortage of almost three and a half million cybersecurity professionals in 2022. Organizations are facing difficulties filling security positions. Thus, the Information Systems curriculum must be redesigned to meet business and industry needs and better prepare Information Systems graduates for cybersecurity careers. This study provides a model for designing a cybersecurity course that will align with industry needs to respond to the shortage of cybersecurity professionals. The proposed model is based on backward course design, aligned with the guidelines from the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework and The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education Strategic Plan, and insights from interviews with industry professionals. We applied the model at a higher education institute in the USA, as higher education graduates fill most cybersecurity positions. The designed course was met with high levels of student satisfaction, positive industry feedback, and high levels of student success. Our proposed model can be applied to any educational institute and customized to desired needs of the institute, students, and the industry with minimal cost and time consideration

ATE Impacts 2018-2019

The ATE Impacts book, published every two years by Internet Scout Research, showcases all of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Centers and selected nominated projects. The NSF ATE program focuses on the education of highly-qualified science and engineering technicians for advanced technology fields. Through the program's grant process, the NSF promotes the improvement of STEM education of science and engineering technicians at the undergraduate and secondary school levels, and in the workforce. The 2018-2019 ATE Impacts book marks the 25th anniversary of the NSF ATE program and offers an in-depth overview of the work done by the ATE community. This book includes a timeline of important achievements and events, a foreword by the program director, additional ATE program history, and information about ATE program Centers and a number of projects.Â

Proceedings of the CUNY Games Conference 6.0

The CUNY Games Network is an organization dedicated to encouraging research, scholarship and teaching in the developing field of games-based learning. We connect educators from every campus and discipline at CUNY and beyond who are interested in digital and non-digital games, simulations, and other forms of interactive teaching and inquiry-based learning. These proceedings summarize the CUNY Games Conference 6.0, where scholars shared research findings at a three-day event to promote and discuss game-based pedagogy in higher education. Presenters could share findings in oral presentations, posters, demos, or play testing sessions. The conference also included workshops on how to modify existing games for the classroom, how to incorporate elements of play into simulations and critical thinking activities, math games, and how to create computer games

Alumni Perceptions of Cybersecurity Employment Preparation Using the NICE Framework

The cybersecurity workforce suffers from an ongoing talent shortage and a lack of information correlating cybersecurity education programs to alumni employment outcomes. This cross-sectional study evaluated the post-graduation employment outcomes of alumni who attended two-year colleges designated by the National Security Agency (NSA) as Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD). Stakeholders of this project were identified as government agencies, the NSA, employers, faculty, students, and organizations that rely on cybersecurity talent to keep their systems secure from cyberattacks. This study used the explanatory sequential mixed methods approach to compare perceptions of the intended Program of Study work roles to alumni employment outcomes using the NICE Framework work roles. This multi-phased, nested sample study included CAE-CD designated Points of Contact (POCs) at two-year colleges and their alumni. The first phase included a call for participation requesting POCs to provide academic program information via online survey and to contact their cybersecurity program alumni with a link to an online survey. The second phase of the study included an online survey requesting that the alumni provide data about their work experience, academic program information, industry-recognized certification achieved, and any co/extra-curricular participation. Overall, the demographics of the alumni sample were more diverse than those of the U.S. cybersecurity workforce and the alumni noted that their two-year academic programs were important to the preparation for their current job. Of the alumni who reported they were currently employed, approximately 80% held technology-related positions. Recommendations are made for the use of the resulting knowledge by cybersecurity stakeholders to better understand the employment outcomes of two-year college alumni from CAE-CD cybersecurity programs