Tips on Recruiting for CyberPatriot for First Time Cyber Teachers
Much first-time CyberPatriot coaches, mentors and teachers find it difficult to recruit students to join. Even top academic achieving students may be difficult to recruit if they are not convinced that there is value to participating in CyberPatriot and learning the skills associated with the participation. Here are a few tips that may make your CyberPatriot program grow in your school. With tips from the book, How Learning Works (Ambrose, Bridges, Lovette, DiPietro and Norman, 2010) I will explain their theory and how this ties in with recruiting for CyberPatriot or any other STEM activity, course or Career Technology and Student Organization.
Motivation.
Motivation comes in two forms intrinsic and external. Certain students have an intrinsic interest in cybersecurity and computers in general. Many of these students are tinkerers who play with their computers in their spare time outside of the classroom. Most of the time, these students are not difficult to recruit. Students that are driven by the external motivation may be reluctant initially but may become convinced of the value of mastering skills if they think there is value in it.
The two basic components of motivation are the subjective value of the goal and the expectations of reaching the goal. Students are most likely to develop motivation when they feel they will be able to reach their goal.
Goals do not need to be success related. Goals can be performance based. CyberPatriot teachers have several options for setting goals. When students work on finding vulnerabilities in an operating system, this should not be set up as a timed test. Start modestly, task them to find only a small amount of vulnerabilities, or make the vulnerabilities simple enough at first so they can find success and work their way up to the more difficult task. Additionally, performance-based goals happen when a student wants to succeed to protect their reputation and/or image. When CyberPatriot team members compete against each other, they try hard to build a reputation and maintain it. This creates a positive synergy and the resulting outcome is that the whole team improves on their cyber skills. I have experienced this many times when my team competes against each other. This is more competitive than when they compete against other schools.
There is much more to cybersecurity skill than troubleshooting and finding vulnerabilities. Hands on experience are great and the top activity that gets students engaged in the first place. However, cybersecurity is also about the mundane; reading, research, writing. In order for a student to develop good skills, she’ll eventually have to crack open a book and read it! Teachers must encourage their students to do the things that most students do not want to do. Reading books in these times will surely put them ahead of the pack. It gives them an edge when balanced with hands-on practice. Do not rush them through reading and research. That would diminish the importance of reading and research and a student may develop work avoidance goals, where students rush through their work only to get to the hands-on portion of instruction.
I know of a computer technology teacher who wrote on his whiteboard, “work First, then play (computer games)”. Needless to so, not much work was getting done in that class.
Value
Value is the importance we put on goals. There are three types:
• Attainment Value; Students do this for a reward, whether it’s a grade or some type of physical award such a trophy.
• Intrinsic Value; this is doing the task for the simple pleasure of doing it with no regard to award. In our society, many males have this intrinsic value. They often like to play with computers in and out of school. Many females do not share intrinsic value. In order to recruit girls in CyberPatriot, teachers have to use a purposeful approach. Many girls want to know the “why” of the task. Explain to girls the expected outcome and they are more apt to be engaged knowing the purpose and expected outcome.
• Instrumental Value; This is when a measurable factor is used for motivation. This measurable factor can be money, promotion, or prestige.
Expectancies
Studies have shown that cyber competitions such as Capture the Flag are great for attracting students to cybersecurity. However, as great as these competitions are, they are not great at retaining a large number of new students to cybersecurity. Students are motivated when they believe that they are able to achieve a goal. The opposite happens when they feel they can’t achieve a goal. People do not work hard towards goals that they feel is unattainable. I have been to several capture the flag competitions. The skill level at these competitions is very high. Many students new to cybersecurity are turned off because they come nowhere near the skill level of the top students. The result is they are turned off by being in a competition they don’t stand a chance of winning or even doing well. Most of the time capture the flag activities don’t give beginners a chance for any measurable success. The result is new students are turned off and do not stick with cybersecurity, and most of the Capture the Flag Competitions are filled with students that already had the intrinsic motivations to participate.
Outcome expectancies lead to nowhere in these cases. If a student expects a good outcome such as a reward, that motivation is quickly depleted when he realizes that no such reward is forthcoming. Most successful cybersecurity students are motivated by efficacy expectations. This motivation has much to do with what a student thinks about himself. Positive thinking can help them overcome obstacles. These students are less concerned about rewards or grades. They know that in the long run that there is value to what they learned. These students should not be tested in any way. These students have practice as much time as possible to develop their skills without any hint of reward or monetary compensation. The practice is what gets them to where they want to be.
Most of a teacher’s success will depend on how she runs her cybersecurity class. If a student develops efficacy and is supported strongly by the teacher, that student will do well and overcome obstacles. But if a student has a strong ability to be successful, an unsupportive teacher may hinder this student from being successful.
To be a successful CyberPatriot teacher/coach, teachers must be strongly involved in their student’s skill development and tie that development to real life topical issues, situations, and connections. Relationships with the professional community is a good source of mentors and mentor-student relationship is key to being successful. Teachers must also reinforce objectives and it does not hurt to show excitement in class. Some of my best memories of being a CyberPatriot coach is laughing along with my students and not making learning cybersecurity a life and death situation, build positive expectations by talking to students. By providing measurements for students to be successful, you will be able to give students opportunities for success and help build their confidence and motivations to do well in the realm of cybersecurity,
