Abstract
This paper analyzes students' self-perception of success and learning effectiveness after using non-compulsory gamification in an online Cybcourse. For this purpose, we designed a cybersecurity game based on cognitive constructivism learning theory. We built the game scenes using metaphors to present the main Cybersecurity contents to the students. We delivered the game in a regular course with two objectives: first, to find the primary design factors that affect students' self-perception of success. We propose a structural equation model to find out the elements with the most significant impact on the students' self-perception of success. The results show that the realistic game design and the contextualization of the game do have a notable influence. They are both examples of best practices in game design; second, to evaluate the learning effectiveness of the game. The results suggest a high correlation between playing the game and succeeding in the course. Moreover, chronological analysis of the performance reveals that the intention to play the game could be a simple dropout predictor. Thus, introducing the game in the educational curricula improves student engagement and consolidates their knowledge on cybersecurity.
Highlights
Cybersecurity is a relevant and growing field with societal impact [1]
We argue that two external variables could affect this two key factors and they are related to best practices in educational game design: a) the engagement of learners, and b) the contextualization of the game
EVALUATION OF THE LEARNING EFFECTIVENESS PERFORMANCE DATA To answer RQ2 and RQ3, we analyzed the grades obtained by the students during a one-year Cybersecurity 101 introductory course as part of an online Computer Science degree
Summary
Cybersecurity is a relevant and growing field with societal impact [1]. In recent years, society has realized that preserving the security of computer systems and the Internet is critical to prevent malicious attacks at all levels of governance, from corporate to national [2]. The necessity to teach Cybersecurity concepts [3], [4] to students. Professional associations such as ACM and IEEE are working in this direction, defining new curricula that cover these needs [5]. Different educational theories and models exist [6] that enable the introduction of these new concepts. Effective learning theories suggest that the more active and dynamic learning is, the more effective it becomes, [7]. In this sense, games meet these properties. The IEEE association predicted that by 2020, games would be present in more than 85% of
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