Rursch, J. A., & Jacobson, D. W., & Luse, A. (2012, June), Using Content Analysis to Evaluate Student Inquiry-based Learning:   The Case of High School Students Preparing for a Cyber Defense Competition  Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--22180

\bibitem{asee_peer_22180}
  Rursch, J. A., \& Jacobson, D. W., \& Luse, A. (2012, June), \emph{Using Content Analysis to Evaluate Student Inquiry-based Learning:   The Case of High School Students Preparing for a Cyber Defense Competition}
  Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, San Antonio, Texas.
  10.18260/1-2--22180

Julie Ann Rursch, Douglas W. Jacobson, and Andy Luse.  "Using Content Analysis to Evaluate Student Inquiry-based Learning:   The Case of High School Students Preparing for a Cyber Defense Competition".  2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, 2012, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2012.  https://peer.asee.org/22180 Internet.  15 Jan, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_22180}
  Julie Ann Rursch, Douglas W. Jacobson, and Andy Luse.
  "Using Content Analysis to Evaluate Student Inquiry-based Learning:   The Case of High School Students Preparing for a Cyber Defense Competition".
  \emph{2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, 2012, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2012.
  https://peer.asee.org/22180 Internet.  15 Jan, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_22180
author = "Julie Ann Rursch, Douglas W. Jacobson, and Andy Luse"
title = "Using Content Analysis to Evaluate Student Inquiry-based Learning:   The Case of High School Students Preparing for a Cyber Defense Competition"
booktitle = "2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2012"
month = "June"
address = "San Antonio, Texas"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/22180}
number = {10.18260/1-2--22180}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -      Using Content Analysis to Evaluate Student Inquiry-Based Learning:The Case of High School Students Preparing for a Cyber Defense CompetitionAlthough it has been demonstrated that inquiry-based learning is a successful method to increasestudent understanding in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) areas, aswell as facilitate critical thinking, there have been few studies investigating the interactions anddiscussions among students participating in group inquiry-based learning projects. We believethat by evaluating the chat logs from a high school cyber defense competition (CDC) we can addto our understanding of student learning, interests in computer engineering, and motivations forstudying security, networking and information assurance.The high school students who participated in the CDC were part of an information technology(IT) club formed in the fall of the academic year to study network and information security usingan inquiry-based approach. Students spent the year using the learning materials provided by alarge Midwestern university, asking their own questions about network security and informationassurance, exploring additional resources and determining how to solve the challenges presentedto them. The capstone event for students who participated in the IT club is a day-long CDC,where students remotely design, configure and maintain a set of servers and a network in asecure manner one month prior to the competition.This paper utilizes content analysis where the chat conversations of students are quantitativelyanalyzed for overarching themes and questions. The paper examines the logs from the 2007 highschool cyber defense competition and categorizes the conversations as to content, as well as tothe topic change over time. As the deadline draws near to the competition, the conversationthemes change to reflect what the students are most interested in at that point in the setupprocess. Since college students in Computer Engineering provide technical support for themonth remote setup leading up to the CDC, there is learning both between teams of studentsfrom different high schools, and among college and high school students. The study shows theinteractions in an online community of high school and college students who don’t know eachother, but are working toward their goal of configuring a secure, fully functional network.While coding of content analysis relies heavily upon manual coding which is time consuming, itprovides a richness of understanding of student learning and interactions in inquiry-basedlearning that other methods do not cover. While we have five years of chat log data, this paper isan evaluation of the first year of chat logs and constructs the framework and methodology forutilizing content analysis to understand student learning and motivations in inquiry-basedlearning programs. We believe that building this framework allows us, and others, to extend it tothe examination of other types of logs where students are communicating to each other bothsocially and about their coursework and projects. Course management software, as well as socialmedia, has similar log files and, with the appropriate permissions, evaluations of these messagescould also provide a valuable look into what students are thinking and discussing while they arelearning.
AU  - Julie Ann Rursch
AU  - Douglas W. Jacobson
AU  - Andy Luse
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Using Content Analysis to Evaluate Student Inquiry-based Learning:   The Case of High School Students Preparing for a Cyber Defense Competition
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/22180
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--22180
ER  -