The University of Southern Maine, the University of Maine at Fort Kent, and the York County Community College are collaborating in a two-year project to pilot and evaluate the feasibility of implementing an inter-institutional virtual cyber security collaborative learning laboratory. In a traditional classroom or laboratory, the student has the support of the faculty and or other students and the physical immediacy positively impacts the students? learning, decisions and outcomes. Cybersecurity virtual laboratories are shared resources that minimize the cost of replicating cybersecurity educational programs and allow students from several institutions to remotely use the hardware at the lead institution. A student working in a virtual cyber security laboratory can work as part of a group at great distances from the physical hardware and other students. This project will develop procedures and practices to fill in the gaps between virtual and physical laboratories in reliable and cost effective ways.
The research design allows for the evaluation of the feasibility of implementing the inter-institutional laboratory in five, four-hour rounds of simulations over three semesters. Evaluation research will utilize a mixed-method approach, with an emphasis on interviews, surveys, observations, and usage data to assess faculty and student attitudes toward and use of the virtual cybersecurity laboratory, and the extent of cooperation among the three institutions in the implementation of the laboratory. Quantitative analysis of student performance data will allow for preliminary assessment of the promise of the virtual laboratory for achieving the expected learning outcomes related to Protect and Defend cyber security scenarios.
