Using Case Studies To Teach Cybersecurity Courses, Yu Cai

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

This paper introduces a holistic and case-analysis teaching model by integrating case studies into cybersecurity courses. The proposed model starts by analyzing real-world cyber breaches. Students look into the details of these attacks and learn how these attacks took place from the beginning to the end. During the process of case analysis, a list of security topics reflecting different aspects of these breaches is introduced. Through guided in-class discussion and hands-on lab assignments, student learning in lecture will be reinforced. Overall, the entire cybersecurity course is driven by case studies. The proposed model is great for teaching cybersecurity. First, the …

An Examination Of Cybersecurity Knowledge Transfer: Teaching, Research, And Website Security At U.S. Colleges And Universities, Aditya Gupta, James R. Wolf

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

This work seeks to answer the question: Does faculty cybersecurity knowledge gained from teaching and research transfer to other IT units in the university? Specifically, do colleges and universities that excel in cybersecurity teaching and research have more secure websites? This work explores a unique setting where the knowledge of the source and recipient are both directly related and observable without outside intervention. Our study employed data from 591 U.S. colleges and universities, the National Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) program, accepted paper data from the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) and the IEEE Symposium on Security …

Virtual Reality As A Pedagogical Tool To Design For Social Impact: A Design Case, Tiffany Roman, Jon Racek

Faculty and Research Publications

Three-dimensional (3-D) virtual environments have key affordances that can improve learning, particularly when context, culture, and pedagogical aims are aligned to a given learning situation. One challenge in detailing effective uses of 3-D virtual environments in teaching and learning contexts is that the design judgments involved are not always made explicit. We argue that the transparency of design judgments, as it relates to the use of 3-D virtual environments, are critically important. This article advances scholarship of emerging technologies by detailing the design judgments of a university instructor within a Design for Social Impact cross-disciplinary course. To address learner needs …

Lived Experience Of Newly Appointed Assistant Principals Who Receive Executive Leadership Coaching, Scott Townsend

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenographic study was to understand how leadership coaching supported personal growth for new assistant principals. Newly appointed assistant principals from a suburban school district outside metro Atlanta, Georgia were interviewed as part of a professional development model which incorporated leadership coaching into the support mechanisms for new administrators. The professional development model, known as a leadership academy, was instituted by the school district and comprised of multiple learning opportunities of which leadership coaching was one component. This study gathered perceptions of newly appointed assistant principals regarding their perceptions of the effectiveness of leadership coaching and …

Promoting Growth And Self-Efficacy: A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of First-Year Assistant Principals, Debra Murdock

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

ABSTRACT

PROMOTING GROWTH AND SELF-EFFICACY: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF FIRST-YEAR ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS

by

Debra Murdock

Kennesaw State University, 2018

Newly appointed assistant principals face a myriad of challenges. Often, the roles and responsibilities of assistant principals are ambiguous, primarily consisting of managerial and organizational type tasks. The lack of a systemic focus for assistant principals coupled with the assigned menial type jobs can leave new assistant principals with professional learning gaps. In the current model of high-stakes accountability for schools and school districts, educational leaders must redefine the role of assistant principals into a more distinct …

Assistant Principals And The Phenomenon Of Leadership Coaching, Thomas Flugum

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

This study sought to define and explore executive leadership coaching as a form of professional learning for educational leaders. This was a qualitative phenomenological inquiry into the ways, if any, that leadership coaching impacts the skills and abilities of first-year assistant principals. Research was conducted with a cohort of newly appointed assistant principals from a suburban school district outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Participants were part of a district leadership academy which provided professional learning and support for new administrators. The participants received leadership coaching from coaches endorsed by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC) as one form of professional learning.

An Explorational Study Of Educational Leaders' Attitudes, Opinions, Understanding, And Application Of Student Growth Percentile (Sgp) Data, J Lyn Turnell

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

Student Growth Percentiles have recently become popular as a way to report student progress over time. Because of the perception that they are relatively simple to understand, they have also become a popular tool to use when evaluating teachers and school-based administrators, even though this is not the purpose of their design. Previous studies have examined the impact of student growth measures on teachers who are evaluated annually with a tool that includes a component of student growth. This study builds on the previous work of Clauser, Keller, and McDermott (2016) and Collins (2014). It examines the actions and opinions …

English Learner Course Scheduling: Practice, Implications, And Aspirations, Aziza Simmons

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

Educating English learners (ELs) is a complex, multifaceted job that takes into account numerous constructs, some tangible and others not. For this endeavor to work optimally, all parties need to work closely and rely on each other with the end result in mind: offering a quality and equitable education to ELs that addresses their academic and language needs and propels them to reach their full potential (Baecher, 2014; Dirocco, 1998). One influential factor is course scheduling for content and career areas (Minaya-Rowe, 2015). Using qualitative case study methodology, this dissertation investigates the current process for scheduling ELs through in-depth semi-structured …

An Investigation Into The Learning Experiences Of Adolescents With Perceived Dual Exceptionalities Within Gifted And Special Education Middle Grades Settings, Whitney Bailey

Doctor of Education in Special Education Dissertations

Students who possess both a disability and characteristics of giftedness are referred to as students with dual exceptionalities. This paradoxical relationship of disability and giftedness creates a challenge for teachers and students, particularly in schools that do not have a specific program for students with dual exceptionalities. Most of these students typically receive the majority of their instruction either within a special education program, or a gifted education program. Students with perceived dual exceptionalities are often able to mask their disabilities with strengths in other major areas. The students in this investigation have all demonstrated strong talent in mathematics. They …

On-Site, Ongoing, And Individualized Professional Development: A Case Study At Rural Charter School, Ashley Funderburke

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

The current model of mass professional development for all teachers does not address the individual needs of each teacher (Berckenmeyer, 2014; Darling-Hammond et al., 2009; DeMonte, 2013). This case study research focused on reaching a deeper understanding of an on-site, ongoing, individualized professional development innovation implemented at Rural Charter School for eight primary teachers as they began to apply a new instructional model; the integration of English-Language Arts standards into the science, social studies, and mathematics. My role within the study fluctuated between that of the researcher, an informant, and a teacher leader in delivering the personalized professional development.

Two …

Examination Of K-12 School Administrators’ Perceptions Of Their Preparation To Lead Special Education Programs, Jaime Davies

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

Current research tells us that when school administrators are not prepared to lead special education, the result can be an educational detriment to the student involved and cause a costly fiscal impact to the school district. The researcher set out to ascertain school administrators’ perceptions of the skills necessary to effectively lead special education programs; it was also important to gauge school administrators’ preparation to lead special education programs based on their special education knowledge. Ball and Green (2014) state that it is the role of the school principal to develop teachers and related support within their buildings, while Pazey, …

Sustaining Change Through Individualized Coaching, Jody Worth

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

This study reveals educators’ journey through a change process as an innovation was being infused throughout their instructional practices. Traditional professional learning is not fashioned to address the ongoing concerns teachers have and the structure to sustain change. There is evidence to suggest that teachers are resistance to change due to the lack of attention placed on individualized change. This research investigates the topics of organizational change, individual change, evolution of professional development, teacher resistance, and individual coaching to lead to a deep understanding of the structural components of teacher support in order for change to transpire. This research is …

Mapping Knowledge Units Using A Learning Management System (Lms) Course Framework, Casey Rackley

KSU Proceedings on Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to examine the outcomes of using a Learning Management System (LMS) course as a framework for mapping the Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) 2019 Knowledge Units (KU) to college courses. The experience shared herein will be useful to faculty who are interested in performing the mapping and applying for CAE-CDE designation.

Cybersecurity Education Employing Experiential Learning, Travis Lowe, Casey Rackley

KSU Proceedings on Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a curriculum design that employs Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory stages and Kolb’s Learning Styles in four consecutive class sessions. The challenge each class is to present students with perplexing and often frustrating network problems that someday might be encountered on the job. By using Kolb’s theory, students address those problems from the perspective of each learning style, while passing through each phase of the learning cycle. As a result, students gain stronger cognitive thinking skills and hands-on troubleshooting skills in preparation for work as network administrators or cybersecurity analysts.

Study Of Physical Layer Security And Teaching Methods In Wireless Communications, Zhijian Xie, Christopher Horne

KSU Proceedings on Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

In most wireless channels, the signals propagate in all directions. For the communication between Alice and Bob, an Eavesdropper can receive the signals from both Alice and Bob as far as the Eavesdropper is in the range determined by the transmitting power. Through phased array antenna with beam tracking circuits or cooperative iteration, the signals are confined near the straight line connecting the positions of Alice and Bob, so it will largely reduce the valid placement of an Eavesdropper. Sometimes, this reduction can be prohibitive for Eavesdropper to wiretap the channel since the reduced space can be readily protected. Two …

Evaluating Two Hands-On Tools For Teaching Local Area Network Vulnerabilities, Ariana Brown, Jinsheng Xu, Xiaohong Yuan

KSU Proceedings on Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

According to the Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report, Local Area Network (LAN) access is the top vector for insider threats and misuses. It is critical for students to learn these vulnerabilities, understand the mechanisms of exploits, and know the countermeasures. The department of Computer Science at North Carolina A&T State University designed two different educational tools that help students learn ARP Spoofing Attacks, which is the most popular attack on LAN. The first tool, called Hacker’s Graphical User Interface (HGUI), is a visualization tool that demonstrates ARP Spoofing Attack with real time animation. The second tool is a hands-on (HandsOn) …

The Effect Of Leadership Coaching On The Self-Efficacy Of New Assistant Principals, Michael Manzella

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the effect of leadership coaching on new assistant principals’ perceptions of self-efficacy. Participants involved in the study included newly appointed assistant principals enrolled in a suburban public school district leadership academy that included multiple coaching sessions. Data were collected via a pre and post-test instrument designed to measure perceptions of self-efficacy. Analysis of covariance was used to determine whether the null hypothesis of two research questions would be accepted or rejected.

Findings showed that participants who experienced leadership coaching had statistically significant gains on post-test scores over pretest scores in all …

Perceptions Of Undergraduate Students Of Student-Regulated Online Courses, Victor K. Wakeling Cfa Cfp Cma, Patricia R. Robertson, Micheal Patrono, Murat Doral

Faculty and Research Publications

Undergraduate students at a large, public, southeastern university enrolled in one of two independent, fully-online courses were released from the instructor-regulated structure mid-semester. Subsequently, the course was structured as student-regulated and students self-managed pace of study and timing of assessments for the remainder of the course. The objective of the research is to assess student preferences in learning structure (instructor-regulated versus student-regulated) in order to inform effective course design options in the online learning environment. At the end of each semester included in the study, a survey was administered to ascertain students’ perceptions of the student-regulated (self-paced) learning environment. After …

Transitioning To A Personalized Learning Environment Leveraging One-To-One Devices, Rebecca G. Myers

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

Today’s educational blueprint is evolving from the traditional teacher-directed model into a student-driven curriculum approach. Specifically, education is experiencing a paradigm shift from the long-established one-size-fits-all model to a customized learning process known as personalized learning. Personalized learning aims at engaging students in more relevant and rigorous learning and turns them into co-designers as the curriculum becomes tailored to their individual learning needs, skills, and interests. Additionally, when coupled with educational technology, personalized learning will provide the teacher with the tools to individualize, differentiate, and accommodate multiple student learning styles and preferences. Indeed, as personalized learning increases in popularity the …

Digital Fluency: Necessary Competence For Teaching And Learning In Connected Classrooms, Agnes Chigona

The African Journal of Information Systems

Educators’ digital fluency has been noted as one of the most important skill required for effective curriculum delivery in connected classrooms. Research and anecdotal evidence show that even though many Western Cape classrooms have internet connectivity, many of the educators are unable to take advantage of the connectivity for teaching and learning. Hence, this paper focuses on the educators’ digital fluency as a necessary competence for effective curriculum delivery in connected classrooms. The study was done qualitatively. Randomly selected educators from public schools participated in the one-on-one and focus group interviews. Results show that most educators perceive their digital fluency …

Integrating Knowledge For Instruction: A Tale Of Two Teachers, David A. Barker, John K. Lannin, Matthew S. Winsor, J. Vince Kirwan

Faculty and Research Publications

Teacher knowledge is a critical factor that influences pedagogical decisions. If we want teachers to make appropriate choices in the classroom we must know and understand the types of knowledge used during this decision-making process. To this end, we sought to understand how, and the extent to which, two 5th grade teachers drew upon and integrated their knowledge of mathematics, learners, and pedagogy while teaching. Stimulated recall interviews were analyzed to uncover the types of knowledge and interactions that occurred. Both teachers primarily used their knowledge of learners and pedagogy, with the knowledge of mathematics playing a supportive role. In …

Unraveling Identity Signifier Literacy: A Case Study Of First-Year Composition Students' Communication Practices, Bailey Mcalister

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Identity signifier literacy is defined as one’s ability to accurately read – via personal interactions or via visual, verbal, written, or digital communication – the signifiers others display in direct and indirect ways and interpret these signifiers to gain understanding of others’ identities. In this study, 22 first-year composition students were surveyed about their communication practices in order to see how their identity signifier literacies influence and are influenced by digital environments and composition. These results are meant to improve first-year composition pedagogy by making connections between students’ informal composition practices and their academic composition courses.

The Outcomes Of Offering A Working Lunch Session In Improving Adolescent Students’ Assignment Completion Rate And Academic Achievement In Mathematics, Kristian Edgeman

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

A decline in academic motivation, organizational skills, and the desire to learn in adolescent students cause middle grade teachers to constantly look for ways of encouraging students to complete assignments on time and achieve academic growth. Tactics such as positive reinforcement and punishments are frequently offered to adolescent students with the purpose of encouraging academic motivation. The inclusion of zeros in the grade book, although a hodgepodge grading practice, is often used as a tool to boost student motivation in prompt assignment completion; however, there is a lack of research to support this. The current study was designed to analyze …

Educators’ Perceptions Of Augmentative And Alternative Communication To Facilitate Communication Among Preschool Students With Disabilities, Honey Meadows

Doctor of Education in Special Education Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how preschool educators perceive augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and how those perceptions influence AAC utilization in preschool classrooms. Specifically, this investigation focused on gaining better understandings about educators’ views, beliefs, and attitudes about AAC utilization to facilitate communication. Semistructured, open-ended interviews, classroom observations, and document review were the data collection sources used. Findings suggest that preschool special educators value the use of AAC and understand the basic human right for all students to participate. However, special education teachers and special education paraprofessionals perceive their roles and responsibilities, as communicative …

Student Misconceptions About Cybersecurity Concepts: Analysis Of Think-Aloud Interviews, Julia D. Thompson, Geoffrey L. Herman, Travis Scheponik, Linda Oliva, Alan Sherman, Ennis Golaszewski, Dhananjay Phatak, Kostantinos Patsourakos

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

We conducted an observational study to document student misconceptions about cybersecurity using thematic analysis of 25 think-aloud interviews. By understanding patterns in student misconceptions, we provide a basis for developing rigorous evidence-based recommendations for improving teaching and assessment methods in cybersecurity and inform future research. This study is the first to explore student cognition and reasoning about cybersecurity. We interviewed students from three diverse institutions. During these interviews, students grappled with security scenarios designed to probe their understanding of cybersecurity, especially adversarial thinking. We analyzed student statements using a structured qualitative method, novice-led paired thematic analysis, to document patterns in …

Experiential Learning Builds Cybersecurity Self-Efficacy In K-12 Students, Abdullah Konak

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

In recent years, there have been increased efforts to recruit talented K-12 students into cybersecurity fields. These efforts led to many K-12 extracurricular programs organized by higher education institutions. In this paper, we first introduce a weeklong K-12 program focusing on critical thinking, problem-solving, and igniting interest in information security through hands-on activities performed in a state-of-the-art virtual computer laboratory. Then, we present an inquiry-based approach to design hands-on activities to achieve these goals. We claim that hands-on activities designed based on this inquiry-based framework improve K-12 students’ self-efficacy in cybersecurity as well as their problem-solving skills. The evaluation of …

Authentic Learning Environments: Designing A New Standard For Public Education, Stephanie Griffith, Stephanie J. Griffith

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The intention of this thesis is to explore the architectural problems of public primary school learning environments and propose possible solutions. This thesis draws from various public blog and public web article accounts and experiences of those working in or studying the institutions of primary education and the problems they are struggling to address. The architectural focus brings to light that while most educators argue that teaching can happen anywhere, this body of research will propose an optimal learning environment in which a set of ideal values are defined as authentic learning and is used to encourage and support a …

Teacher Practices To Help Alternative Education Students, Angela Daws

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

The problem addressed by this study is that alternative schools have a high recidivism rate, due in part to a difficult transition for students back to their traditional, zoned school. The purpose of this study was to identify practices of experienced alternative school teachers perceived as helping students transition from the alternative school setting to the traditional school setting, as well as challenges teachers face. To identify these practices (and challenges), data were collected from 5 teachers at a disciplinary alternative school by surveys, interviews, and observations. Three research questions guided this study:

1. How do experienced alternative high school teachers …

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Zero Tolerance, Zero Justice: Teacher Perceptions Of Using Restorative Justice, Ajayi Monell

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

While many schools are spending millions on instructional programming, new technology, and colorful chart paper for data walls, an area that often takes a back seat to improving achievement is the social and emotional learning of students (SEL). Until the education community starts focusing on the well-being of our students, closing the achievement gap will continue to be a nice catch phrase and not a reality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of K-8 teachers to determine how they felt about the use of Restorative Justice, with a focus on Peace Circles. This study explored this …

Planning To Assist Low Achievers: Perspectives Of Instructional Leaders And Teachers, Andrea Ridley

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Dissertations

Is there a connection between stereotypes and the achievement gap? The issue of stereotyping is a consistent topic of concern in the United States based on labels such as race, ethnicity, gender, and religion (Gollnick, 2013). The United States is a multicultural nation where the classroom is becoming filled with a plethora of diversity pulling many of those stereotypes to the surface (Gollnick, 2013). Intergroup interaction can be frustrating, confusing, and cause anxiety for many because of the unknown and/or misunderstood factors that determine cultural differences. Could there be a connection between stereotyping and student achievement based on how the …