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Developing and Assessing Educational Games to Enhance Cyber Security Learning in Computer Science

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Conference

2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Publication Date

August 23, 2022

Start Date

June 26, 2022

End Date

June 29, 2022

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

4

DOI

10.18260/1-2--41960

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/41960

Download Count

222

Paper Authors

biography

Jinghua Zhang Winston-Salem State University

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Dr. Jinghua Zhang is a Professor of Computer Science. She received her doctoral degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Michigan State University in 2005. Her research interests are in the areas of computer graphics, computer science education, and game-based learning. Dr. Zhang has seventeen years of experience in teaching and advising both undergraduate and graduate students. She has received funding awards with a total amount of $900,000 and her research activities have resulted in many peer-reviewed publications.

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Jinsheng Xu North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (CoE)

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Xiaohong Yuan North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (CoE)

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Abstract

Cyber security education is critical to preparing Computer Science students for the increasing security challenges they will face in the future. Games have been successfully used in many areas of education, including Computer Science, to engage students in learning. Although some games are available to increase cyber security awareness among high school students, it is hard to find serious games that focus on advanced security topics for college students. The cyber security educational community needs this type of tool to keep students motivated and engaged in learning difficult security concepts. Furthermore, many of the creators of the educational games have not put sufficient emphasis on the evaluation and assessment of the games. We developed three educational games to teach cybersecurity concepts including Buffer Overflow, Access Control, LAN and ARP Spoofing. The games were developed using the Unity game engine and deployed to the WebGL format so students can play them online. None of these games require prior experience in gaming. To measure the effectiveness, we developed pre-survey, post-survey, and focus group protocols. Additionally, each game module has in-game assessments which require students to complete after each level of the game. Player information and assessment data are saved on the cloud through GameSparks for further analysis. These games have been utilized many times in the classroom with positive student feedback and promising evaluation results. In this poster, we will present game design, development, and assessment results.

Zhang, J., & Xu, J., & Yuan, X. (2022, August), Developing and Assessing Educational Games to Enhance Cyber Security Learning in Computer Science Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41960

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