Abstract:

One of the problems frequently associated with Cybersecurity Education in Post-secondary institutions is graduates' lack of real-life experience concerning technical controls[1]. In this experiential report, we present the incorporation of Cybersecurity competitions into curricula as mandatory assessments: assignments or final tests. The reason behind this approach is to improve the student experience by providing them with opportunities to prepare for and practice situations which are similar to those experienced in the professional work environment.

Our goal is to present the participation of Computer Science students at MacEwan University in the National Cyber League (NCL) competition [https://nationalcyberleague.org/]. Students registered in a 400-level Network Security course participated in the individual Fall 2021 NCL competition as a requirement of a mandatory assignment. For students registered in a 300-level Computer Security, participating in the individual Spring 2022 NCL competition replaced the final exam. In both cases, participation in the team NCL competitions was a bonus assessment worth 5% of the final mark.

We introduce the motivation for such as approach, which is necessary considering that both courses are required for students to graduate from the System and Security stream at MacEwan University; thus, students must correctly understand the challenges and the rewards they get by participating in the competition.
We detail the theoretical and practical presentations used to prepare students for the competitions. In this section, we highlight the plethora of available resources which can help an instructor willing to incorporate competitions in the curriculum and make this a less demanding approach.

We will share some of our findings regarding students' feedback: most students found the competitions useful for their educations and appreciated the practical aspects they introduced. Some students found the competitions so intriguing that they decided to participate in more Capture the Flag competitions for their own curiosity and benefit: one such practical benefit was job offers in Cybersecurity.

We present the marking schemes used to evaluate the students' work. They are based on the learning outcomes of the courses and the student performance in the competition. We will also cover budgeting aspects such as the overall price and possible ways of covering the expenses without passing the financial burden onto students.

We will detail our personal experience with organizing and managing student participation, the lessons learned and the pitfalls to avoid.

Keywords:

Cybersecurity, competition, student experience.