Cyber Entrepreneurship for Schools and Colleges

A project to inspire diversity in cyber security at a young age using entrepreneurship.

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Cyber Entrepreneurship in Schools
The Team
The Challenge
Our Approach
Our Partners

Our Approach

The project takes a collaborative Design Based Research (DBR) approach to the design of the proposed educational material. This has been used successfully used by the PI in the past to develop new forms of training support for software developers as part of a funded research activity. Importantly, DBR goes beyond the reflective development of educational interventions by enabling researchers to explore and develop educational theories; in this case whether an entrepreneurial educational approach can attract a broader range of talent into cyber.

Importantly, this approach will enable the project staff to work closely with the key stakeholder groups to ensure there is close alignment with the priorities and requirements for the targeted Key Stages. The project is split into 3 phases of activity with 2 phases of iterative development and delivery.

Phase 1 – Community Catalyst

The initial phase works in collaboration with all stakeholders (Students, Parents/Teachers, Industry) to understand what content is needed in an attractive course and the best pedogeological approaches for delivery. Specifically, it will seek to understand the key differences required for the two key stages and the most appropriate messaging to engage participants. By engaging parents and teachers the project will be able to probe the cultural and diversity dynamics related to the provision of the intended programmes.

We will work closely with the industrial stakeholders to engagement them in the delivery of the courses. Importantly we will explore how the industrial partners can inform and drive real world entrepreneurial challenges to engage the key stages and what the potential for additional benefits – such as career mentoring – might be.

The output of this phase will be a short report detailing the qualitative findings coupled with a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) design to be taken into the next phase.

Phase 2 – Pilot

This phase sees a complete cycle of development and delivery of the intended programme across the two Key Stages. The MVP design will be implemented and delivered in multiple workshops to provide opportunities to evaluate the initial design and explore the impact on the aims of the project. This phase will also see the development of the research instruments required to rigorously gather the data needed to evaluate the outcomes and impacts from the interventions. This work culminates in a formative assessment of the initial interventions across the key stages. We will work closely with Cardinal Newman School and the LU Maths School to pilot the activities while engaging with the wider stakeholder base to solicit their input in preparation for the final phase.

The output of this phase will be the first iteration of complete KS3 and KS5 intervention materials and a formative report reflecting on the impact of the delivery against the project aims.

Phase 3 – Programme Delivery

This final phase will focus on wider delivery and evaluation rather than core course development. The project will deliver the activities across multiple parties working closely with the community and educational partners to reach multiple, diverse groups. At the end of this phase the final materials will be developed into a professional delivery portfolio with appropriate delivery guides. These materials will then be released under a suitable community focused IP agreement working in collaboration with the NCSC and Cyber First. This phase culminates in a summative assessment pulling together all the data collected from the course and community evaluations.

The output of this phase will deliver the final teaching/course materials and the overall summative assessment of the project.

Research Methods

The DBR[1] process involves data gathering for design and evaluation of the educational interventions. As described above, the project has multiple data gathering points to serve this purpose. Primarily we will be using qualitative evaluation approaches to gain of participant feedback through interviews and case studies. This will be coupled with qualitative evaluation based on subjective ratings of interest and inclusion as well as understanding demographics and participants. This will enable the exploration of correlated factors and the development of themes emergent from participant experiences.

At all times the project team will follow the university ethics process and data protection requirements, being mindful of the age of the participants in some elements of the project.

References