Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) has been proven effective in improving discipline-based student learning and professional skills such as teamwork, communication, management, information processing, and critical thinking. This project develops POGIL materials for fifteen cybersecurity topic areas of cryptography, access control, network security, risk management, web security, and secure coding. This project also evaluates the developed POGIL materials and teaching methods in different courses at three universities with the goal of investigating the following research question: Is using the POGIL method more effective to learn cybersecurity than traditional/lecture-based teaching methods in terms of learning outcomes, learning experience, attitudes and motivation? This project also builds the national capacity in cybersecurity education and disseminates project results through holding two in-conference faculty workshops and one summer faculty workshop as faculty professional development in cybersecurity. This project is implemented through the collaboration of PIs from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and Old Dominion University.
The developed POGIL materials will contribute to the effective pedagogy resources for cybersecurity education. The study of the effectiveness of the POGIL instructional method for cybersecurity education will contribute to the research knowledge on effective teaching methods for cybersecurity. The developed POGIL materials can be adopted by multiple disciplines such as computer science, information technology and business, and will be made available to a broader audience through conference presentations, publication in appropriate journals, and through the project's web site.
