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Cybersecurity Pedagogy: Exploration Of Effective Teaching Methods For Engaging Middle School Learners

Brenda Chavez

Madison Thomas

mthoma27@ncsu.edu

Erynn Elmore

Dr. Veronica Cateté

vmcatete@ncsu.edu

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Background

Cybersecurity is a critical skill [1] but many students find STEM and cybersecurity a daunting subject to learn [2]
Cybersecurity standards [3][4]
CS Education Research on Engagement [5]
Goal: Increase engagement with cybersecurity curriculum

Cybersecurity, and particularly digital literacy, is a critical skill for students growing up in the 21st century, especially as data breaches and security incidents are more frequent.

Despite this need for education, students seem to find STEM and cybersecurity intimidating to learn.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, known as NIST, created the NICE program to promote access to cybersecurity programs.

The Computer Science Teachers Association, known as C S T A, has recently incorporated cybersecurity as a subconcept within their K through 12 computer science standards

A national survey conducted by Cyber.org found that 90% of surveyed K-12 educators reported having "little to no knowledge" of cybersecurity.

With these aspects, there is a need to understand how to implement effective cybersecurity education for K-12 students, specifically middle school, in informal education settings. ��time allotted: 1 minute �actual time: 1 minute

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Research Questions

How do various teaching methods and pedagogies influence students’ engagement in cybersecurity topics during short-term learning experiences?
In what ways can short-term pedagogical approaches be adapted to enhance students’ engagement in cybersecurity education?

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Methodology

Outreach program design [6]
Data Collection
Content [6]

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Participant Demographics

Total	Gender			Race / Ethnicity
Total	Female	Male	Other	Black	Hispanic	Multi-Racial	Unknown
n = 30	15	13	2	18	4	6	1

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Participant Demographics

Total	Age
Total	11	12	13	14
n = 30	7	16	7	10

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Pre/Post Survey Questions used for analysis

I want to learn more about cybersecurity.
I envision myself learning more about cybersecurity in the future.
I would like to explore career options related to cybersecurity.
I generally have fun when I am learning cybersecurity topics.
I am happy working on cybersecurity tasks and problems.
I enjoy acquiring new knowledge in cybersecurity.
I like learning about cybersecurity.

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Exit Ticket Analysis

What was your favorite thing you did today? - Open-ended
Was there anything you disliked about today’s lesson? - Open-ended
How helpful do you think the visuals (such as images, videos, etc) were in helping you understand today’s lesson? - Likert Scale

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Observational Protocol Analysis

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Synthesized Research Findings

Pre & Post Surveys
Exit Tickets [7]
Observation protocols

For the pre and post surveys, a paired t test was conducted to understand students change in enjoyment of the program and their intent to pursue cybersecurity. There was no statistically significant differences in students enjoyment or intent to pursue cybersecurity before and after participating in the program.

For the exit tickets, we found that use of visual aids in lessons seemed to aid students’ understanding of cybersecurity topics. This is supported by research by Yim et al.

The observation protocols were analyzed through a systematic analysis, which involved coding specific behaviors and interactions observed during the classroom session, and then organized into broader themes. We found that students preferred a wide range of instructional methods, and that it was important to vary instruction between hands-on activities, lectures, and group work.

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Takeaways & Future Work

Incorporate Interactive Activities
Promote Peer Interactions
Connect to Real World Applications
Evaluate in Real Time

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References

[1] Musaddag Elrayah and Saima Jamil. 2023. Impact of Digital Literacy and Online Privacy Concerns on Cybersecurity Behaviour: The Moderating Role of Cybersecurity Awareness. International Journal of Cyber Criminology (Jul 2023).

[2] n. d.]. Inclusive Classroom Climate — poorvucenter.yale.edu. https://

poorvucenter.yale.edu/ClassClimates. [Accessed 23-05-2024].

[3] 2024. https://www.nist.gov/itl/applied-cybersecurity/nice�[4] 2017. https://members.csteachers.org/documents/en-us/d227e2a4-ce35-434e-

a20b-24355d11b015/1/

[5] [n. d.]. ([n. d.]). https://cyber.org/sites/default/files/2020-06/The%20State%20of% 20Cybersecurity%20Education%20in%20K-12%20Schools.pdf

[6] Madison Thomas, Erynn Elmore, Brenda Chavez, Ronaisha Ruth, Charlotte Avery, Michel Cukier, and Veronica Cateté. 2024. Equitable Access to Cybersecurity Education: A Case Study of Underserved Middle School Students. Proceedings of the 2024 Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education 1 (Jul 2024).

[7] Ketrina Yim, Daniel D. Garcia, and Sally Ahn. 2010. Computer science illustrated. Proceedings of the 41st ACM technical symposium on Computer science education 21 (Mar 2010), 465–469. https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.173441

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Thank you!