Developing Curricular Modules For Cybersecurity Informatics: An Active Learning Approach

As cybercrimes and their data volumes proliferate, business professionals and public servants urgently need new knowledge and skills to address the growing threats. However, curricular materials, pedagogical research, and courses to address the data deluge in cybersecurity are not widely available. This research developed a contextual active learning approach to creating curricular modules for use in online informatics education. The approach emphasizes active and contextual learning in module design and deployment. Student participation, problem-based thinking, case study, and interactive question-Answering and discussion are used. We implemented the approach in a new online course titled \u27Cybersecurity Informatics,\u27 a cross-disciplinary subject that connects advanced information technologies, systems, algorithms, and databases with cybersecurity-related applications. Results from an expert evaluation indicate strongly positive comments and significant innovation on active learning. The research demonstrates a strong potential for using the approach to developing new cybersecurity informatics modules