Discussions

Your Name and Title:

Samuel Said, Assistant Professor, Division Chair

School or Organization Name:

Volunteer State Community College, Business and Technology Division

Co-Presenter Name(s):

None

Area of the World from Which You Will Present:

Tennessee, USA

Language in Which You Will Present:

English

Target Audience(s):

Higher Educators Technology Faculty

Short Session Description (one line):

Choosing the right pedagogies for the competencies needed for cybersecurity curriculum

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

The cybersecurity leaders of tomorrow are sitting in the classrooms today.  As cyber threats continue to evolve, the nation’s protection against them relies on a steady stream of qualified cybersecurity professionals entering the workforce.  Cybercrime is on the rise and cybercriminals are only getting better at what they do, which means the skills gap is growing between the people who hack and the people who stop them.  Higher education institutions (HEIs) are finding themselves with the challenge of preparing a workforce for a with which it is apparently hard to keep pace.  Information security professionals are in demand in both government and private enterprise, and the trend is not expected to change.  But as the education market exists today, the United States may not be in a position to quickly and adequately train the security workforce needed.  To keep up with workforce demands, the HEIs must keep their fingers on the pulse of competencies and pedagogies to adequately prepare workers to compete in an educationally progressive world.  The purpose of this study was to examine pedagogical best practices for student mastery of cybersecurity competencies. Additionally, the researcher explored factors that may either promote or hinder student learning in cybersecurity education.

Interviews were conducted with cybersecurity educators from colleges and universities in Alabama and Tennessee who are part of the National Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) program in Cyber Defense (CD).  An outcome of this research will be to bring a new light to the environment in which students learn cybersecurity subjects alongside suggestions and future research for improving cybersecurity education at academic institutions.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:

N/A