Gencyberscrum: improving cybersecurity education outcomes with the scrum framework

Abstract

This work describes the adoption of a modified scrum framework (GenCyberScrum) for the NSA-NSF GenCyber program that focuses on delivering ten cybersecurity The main objective of incorporating GenCyberScrum in the program was to empower students to self-manage by defining their own learning goals within the scope of several targeted educational outcomes. Forty high school students participated in the program by forming five groups of eight with equal numbers of male and female participants. Using the GenCyberScrum framework, each team successfully produced physical and virtual representations of all ten cybersecurity first principles through: 3D printing, 3D animations in Alice, Sketches/Gestures, Fuzzy Stick Models, and Sphero robotic light drawings. The NSA post-survey indicated that nearly three quarters of the participants (72.5% or 29 out of 40) self-reported that they had never participated in any other cybersecurity activities before the program, but by the end, all 40 (100%) agreed or strongly agreed that they could not only understand the ten cybersecurity principles, but they could actively perform security tests and apply fixes for a number of common vulnerabilities. The NSA experts' site visit evaluation also indicated that GenCyberScrum was highly effective in implementing all ten cybersecurity first principles. Overall, incorporating the GenCyberScrum framework in a school, summer camp, or workshop environment could help students take active ownership of learning objectives and improve the learning experience.