Abstract
Computer science, cybersecurity education, and microcredentials are becoming more pervasive in all levels of the educational system. The purpose of this study was partnering with precollegiate teachers: (1) to investigate the self-efficacy of 30 precollegiate teacher participants towards computer science before, during, and after three iterations of a cybersecurity microcredential, and (2) to make changes to the cybersecurity microcredential to improve its effectiveness. The authors explored what teachers need in a microcredential. The first Cohort (n = 5) took the microcredential sequence over 28 days in the summer of 2020, the second Cohort (n = 16) took it over 42 days in the fall of 2020, and the third Cohort (n = 9) took it over 49 days in the summer of 2021. The authors investigated three research questions and used a systems thinking approach while developing, evaluating, and implementing the research study. The researchers used quantitative methods in the collection of a self-efficacy subscale survey to assess whether the precollegiate teachers’ beliefs about computer science changed, and then used qualitative methods when conducting semi-structured teacher participant interviews to address the research questions. The findings show that the precollegiate teachers’ self-efficacy scores towards computer science increased, and that there are areas in need of attention, such as resources and implementation, when creating microcredentials. The implications of this research include the importance of purposefully crafting microcredentials and professional developments, including aspects of creating effective partnerships.
Highlights
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
While microcredentials may take the form of a digital badge, regardless of their representation, they serve as evidence of a skill or learning [15], and this research study involved microcredential modules, about cybersecurity, as they are embedded within computer science content
The cybersecurity microcredential consisted of a series of learning modules that covered the principles of cybersecurity, and each module contained clear learning objectives aligned with the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) standards
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Instead of the continuous day-long or weeklong instruction which occurs in many PDs, microcredentials are virtual, self-paced, and allow flexibility over longer periods of time [5,6,7,8] With this in mind, one challenge is finding out how precollegiate teachers perceive a cybersecurity microcredential PD, how it impacts their self-efficacy, and how the most effective microcredential can be coconstructed. The systems thinking framework considers the end-user’s experience, in this case, precollegiate CS and STEM teachers, as well as the problem to be solved [27,28] This approach is started by identifying the common problems/barriers to implementation, and in this study the authors used it to identify the needs of precollegiate teachers. The authors used the systems thinking framework to focus on possible factors such as a user-friendly platform, content-richness, and competency-based, cybersecurity-friendly pedagogies to meet the main problems of crafting an effective and efficient microcredential product [9,10,31]
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