The CATS Hackathon: Creating and Refining Test Items for Cybersecurity Concept Inventories

Abstract

Presently, there is no rigorous, research-based method for measuring the quality of cybersecurity instruction. Validated assessment tools are needed so that cybersecurity educators have trusted methods for discerning whether efforts to improve student preparation are successful. The Cybersecurity Assessment Tools (CATS) Project9 provides rigorous evidence-based instruments for assessing and evaluating educational practices (http://www.cisa.umbc.edu/cats/index.html). The first instrument is the Cybersecurity Concept Inventory (CCI), which measures how well students understand core concepts in cybersecurity (especially adversarial thinking) after a first course in the field. The second instrument, the Cybersecurity Curriculum Assessment (CCA), measures how well students understand the same core concepts after completing a full cybersecurity curriculum and whether they are ready to enter the workforce as cybersecurity professionals. These tools can identify pedagogies and content that are effective in teaching cybersecurity.