This funding establishes a new Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Site at Polytechnic University of New York (NYU-Poly). The primary objective of this RET site is to engage high school teachers in cyber security related activities and involve them in introducing a topic of critical national need to students. The project will introduce a cadre of teachers to the basic concepts of cyber security and engage them in ongoing research projects at NYU-Poly. The teachers and their students will participate in a nationwide high school forensics challenge. The NYU-Poly RET team has an outstanding track record of achievements in cyber security research, education, outreach, capacity building, and K-12 educational initiatives. The team plans to provide research and professional development opportunities to teachers from urban, inner city schools and broadly disseminate the curricular materials the teachers design to bring the cyber-security topics and their research into classrooms in the greater New York City area. Thus the project will develop a community of teachers and students who are passionate about cyber security.
The project is abundant in intellectual strengths anchored by a research area this is compelling and relevant to all citizens and by an exceptional faculty team that has demonstrated expertise in both research and K-12 outreach. The site features projects that are teacher accessible as well as connected to current research and practice. The RET site includes sound evaluation and dissemination plans that may provide models for secondary cyber security education, filling an important disciplinary gap. The project could help establish a sustainable/scalable pathway to an abundant group of US computer scientists proficient in the next generation of cyber security concepts and techniques.
The project also has many broader impacts. The project will provide professional development to teachers from urban, inner-city high schools with socially diverse, economically disadvantaged, and underrepresented student populations. Teachers will develop and hone their research, communication, and presentation skills, all of which are essential to their professional growth and success. The project will build the technical capacity of teachers so they are capable of developing and deploying cyber security topics at their schools. The project team will disseminate the results of the project through the TeachEngineering digital library, tutorials, and course materials for adoption by others.
