Towards a Digital Forensics Competency-Based Program: Making Assessment Count

This paper describes an approach that UMUC has initiated to revise its graduate programs to a Competency-Based Education (CBE) curriculum. The approach, which is Learning Demonstration (LD) centric, includes the identification of learning goals and competences, identification and description of the LDs, mapping of the LDs to the competences, scripting the LDs, placing the LDs into the respective courses, validating the developed materials, and the development of the open learning resources. Programs in the Cybersecurity and Information Assurance Department, including the Digital Forensics and Cyber Investigations program, are being revised. An LD centric approach to curriculum development helps align programs to the needs of employers, and standards of accreditation bodies. The rationale behind this paper is twofold: to support course development through providing reusable competency inventory, LD inventory, and open resources and to provide assessment by defining competences of an individual as a function of knowledge and skills. This is a work in progress. Keywords: learning goal, digital forensics, competences, competency-based education, learning demonstratio