Summary

The Advanced Cyberforensics Education Consortium (ACE: NSF DUE 1204800) consists of 14 state and community partner colleges from Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina.  Each of these states had a designated state lead: Daytona State College (primary lead) in Florida; Middle Georgia State University in Georgia; Trident Technical College in South Carolina; and South Piedmont Community College in North Carolina.

ACE’s goals include serving as a leader for cyberforensics education; creating seamless pathways and engagement in cyber-related fields for K-12 students; workforce development; and to further cybersecurity broadly. ACE’s primary educational effort is through the development and dissemination of four distance-delivered, hands-on cyberforensics courses, with core knowledge, skills, and competencies derived from best practices. Each course includes streaming video lectures, slide decks, quizzes, and hands-on assignments implemented through virtualization technologies.  ACE disseminated the course materials through multiple avenues to colleges and community colleges to address the evolving technical workplace and new technologies. 

The curriculum’s rigor was attested to through several means.  In 2015 the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Academic Alliance designated Daytona State College a National Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence (CDFAE) based on ACE’s curriculum. In 2016 the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security designated Daytona State College as a National Center of Academic Excellence-Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE) based on ACE’s cybersecurity and cyberforensics curriculum, and associated courses. 

Objectives and Outcomes

Objective 1: Develop and disseminate a rigorous curriculum that will foster an environment of learning and success in the field of cyberforensics:

Outcome 1: ACE developed four cyberforensics-related courses.  These materials included hundreds of video lectures, hands-on labs and activities; slide decks, quizzes, assignments and keys, etc. ACE made these course materials available through ACE’s learning management system (LMS), and the video lectures through dedicated YouTube channels, which afforded the ability to provide closed captioning for the hearing impaired.  At least 2000 students have enrolled and passed these courses across multiple institutions.

Objective 2: Provide ongoing professional development for faculty aimed at improving instructional practices and learning outcomes.

Outcome 2: ACE created an LMS that consisted of professional development materials for the four cyberforensics courses. Over 150 faculty members from 85 institutions representing 28 states/territories participated in the training.  Combined with several in-person workshops, over 250 faculty members participated in faculty development.

Objective 3: Involve industry and community to support the sustainability and growth of ACE.

Outcome 3: ACE state leads worked with numerous external community entities on grant-related activities, including Microsoft, Time Warner Cable, InfraGard, Palo Alto Networks, Federal Bureau of Investigation, (ISC)², Florida Cyber Alliance, SPAWAR, Air Force Association, National CyberWatch, CyberWatch West, CSSIA, Phishme, Computer Security Education Consortium, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and numerous others.

Objective 4: Attract a diverse group of students who can meet the challenges of an emerging and changing IT workforce landscape.

Outcome 4: During year five of ACE 21% of students enrolled in a cyberforensics course at the state lead institutions were classified as female, and 31% of students enrolled in a cyberforensics course at the state lead institutions were classified as a race or ethnicity traditionally underrepresented in STEM. ACE state leads held multiple events that targeted underrepresented STEM populations. For instance, over 160 middle school females participated during the summers of 2016 and 2017 in the “Girls’ Day Out” summer camp held by Trident Technical College and its sponsors.

Objective 5: Stimulate community interest in cyberforensics and cybersecurity.

Outcome 5: ACE state leads used various methods to stimulate interest in cyberforensics and cybersecurity, including dozens of presentations at regional and national conferences.  Additionally, ACE partners had an impact on over a thousand K-12 students through cyber camps, cyber competitions, and cyber clubs. 

Objective 6: Evaluate the project to determine the usefulness and viability of ACE, and disseminate project findings accordingly.

Outcome 6: From 2012-2017 ACE’s external evaluator gathered data from each state lead, current students, graduated students, members of our advisory board, and partner institutions to provide a summative and formative evaluation of ACE’s progress. 

Objective 7: Establish the Cyber Warrior Program as an academic program or official school club designed to foster an environment of learning and success in the field of cybersecurity.

Outcome 7: The Cyber Warrior Program was created via pass-through funding to the Career Technical Educational Foundation (CTEF).  Through its Cyber Warrior Club and Academy, CTEF made strides in reaching the K-12 population and, in due course, building a pipeline of incoming high school graduates with knowledge of cyber security.  As of May 2014, CTEF had created seven Cyber Warrior programs at middle and high schools throughout the state of Florida, and actively engaged 90 students.  The Cyber Warrior Program can take several forms: after-school club, summer camp, elective course, or academy.   

Last Modified: 08/07/2017
Modified by: Philip Craiger