2023-09-13, 11:10– (Asia/Tokyo), 4F Mid-size Conference Room
Cybersecurity education in engineering education is becoming increasingly important, and the cybersecurity human resource development project that began at KOSEN in 2015 has entered its mature phase. The author has been responsible for the practical technical aspects of this project and has developed many cyber security educational materials. Lectures using the developed educational materials have been practiced and educational effectiveness has been measured. The relationship between educational effectiveness and motivation has also been examined, and the latest research results show that a high educational effectiveness can be expected if the motivation score of the students in the course is 4 or higher (on a scale of 1 to 5 points).
In 2022, KOSEN started a credit transfer system among national institutes of technology, and National Institute of Technology, Kisarazu College, which is the base college of this project, offered "Information Security Exercise," which is the author's subject and enables students to learn about vulnerabilities in web applications through practical exercises. Thirty-seven students from National Institute of Technologys across Japan received credits for the course.
In light of previous research results, the 37 students were classified into two groups according to their motivation scores on a pre-course questionnaire: the ultra-high motivation group (mean score: 4.48) and the high motivation group (mean score: 4.00) (analysis of variance showed a significant difference in mean scores (F(1,35)=11.37, p <.005)). Students' scores on cybersecurity skills and knowledge (operational and construction, knowledge and law, certification, vulnerability, and defense in depth) were obtained by questionnaire before and after the course.
Analysis of variance showed that both the highly motivated group (Fs(1,100)>=10.65, ps<.005) and the ultra-highly motivated group (Fs(1,75)>=17.20, ps<.001) showed significant score increases on all five items. To examine consistency with the learning content, we also analyzed the magnitude of score increase for the five items and found a significant difference between the magnitude of score increase for vulnerability and the other items (ts(140)>=3.705, ps<.0003).
These results confirm that the assumed skill improvement was appropriately practiced, and replicate that a motivation score of 4 or higher is highly effective for learning. In order to effectively utilize these results in other subjects, it is important to set goals based on appropriate historical background and to prepare prior learning to further increase interest.
In FY2022, KOSEN started a credit transfer system among national institutes of technology, and Kisarazu KOSEN, which serves as a base institute for the cyber security human resource development project, offered "Information Security Exercise," in which students can learn about web application vulnerabilities through practical exercises. The participants were asked about their motivation before taking the course and about their cyber security skills before and after the course. The results of the analysis of variance replicated the results obtained in a previous study, in which a motivation score of 4 or higher (on a scale of 1 to 5 points) was associated with a high learning effect. The degree of skill and knowledge skill improvement on vulnerability, which was the goal, was higher than the other items, indicating the appropriateness of the content of the practical exercises.
Credit Transfer System among National Institutes of Technology, Cyber Security Education Practice, Motivation, Information Security Exercise
