2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 152: Utilizing Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies to Enhance the Learning of African-American Middle School Girls in Cybersecurity

Presented at Pre-College Engineering Education Division (PCEE) Poster Session

To broaden participation of underrepresented groups in STEM, researchers have proposed various strategies, such as exposing students to ethnically matched professional images or role models active in STEM and utilizing culturally relevant pedagogy. The latter gave rise to Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT), which has been effective in increasing interest and engagement in STEM according to research studies. This work utilized CRT strategies to inspire African American female participation in cybersecurity. Published results show that the CRT strategies employed established a sense of belonging and increased interest in cybersecurity. However, the question remained if the CRT strategies supported student learning of cybersecurity concepts.

For three consecutive summers since 2021, faculty in the Cybersecurity Assurance and Policy (CAP) Center at Morgan State University (MSU) implemented the 'Females are Cyber Stars' (FACS) Summer Camp. The program’s overall goals were to increase African American female students’ interest in cybersecurity and provide exposure to cybersecurity fundamentals. This initiative targeted female African American students in Baltimore Public Middle Schools. A total of 39 girls participated in the virtual program during the summer of 2021, 25 girls engaged in the in-person program during the summer of 2022, and 23 girls completed the in-person program during the summer of 2023. The FACS summer camp participants were given pre- and post-program surveys to evaluate learning outcomes and the impact of using CRT strategies. The camp participants reported increased knowledge and interest in cybersecurity and online safety for all summers.

In the summer of 2023, the FACS summer camp participants were given pre- and post cybersecurity knowledge tests in addition to the pre- and post-program attitude surveys. The aim was to determine if the CRT strategies increased the students’ interest in cybersecurity and supported student learning of the content. Another goal was to determine if the participants' self-reported increase in knowledge correlated with actual gains in cybersecurity knowledge, as measured by the pre- and post test scores. This paper provides an overview of the FACS summer camp, discusses the culturally-responsive teaching strategies deployed and the impact of these strategies on student interest and learning.

Authors

Dr. DeAnna Bailey Morgan State University [biography]

Dr. DeAnna Bailey is a faculty member of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Morgan State University. Dr. Bailey has an academic background in Electrical Engineering (B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Doctor of Engineering). She studies African history, culture, and traditions for the purpose of re-conceptualizing engineering for African/Black people in the 21st Century. Dr. Bailey researches, develops, implements, and examines effective methods of teaching STEM to African-American) youth. At her university, she teaches electrical engineering from an African-centered perspective. She is currently the Principal Investor (PI) for a National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded proposal that is examining the impact of African-centered STEM education (ACSE). Dr. Bailey aims to increase the participation of African (Americans) in STEM by combating systemic racism within STEM education by introducing innovative teaching techniques and curricula to the engineering education research community.
Dr. Karen Gareis Goodman Research Group, Inc. [biography]

Dr. Karen Gareis is Director of Research at Goodman Research Group, Inc., in Cambridge, MA, where she evaluates a range of educational programs, including formal and informal science education, arts education, fellowship and professional development programs, and education and outreach initiatives for groups ranging from museums to public television to NASA missions and for children, teens, and adults. Dr. Gareis received her doctorate and M.A. in Social Psychology from Boston University and a B.S. in Psychology with minors in Linguistics and Anthropology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Areas of special expertise include research methodology and statistical analysis. Dr. Gareis has conducted studies in a variety of areas, including social support, program evaluation, gender, and work-family issues.
Charnee Bowens Morgan State University
Mrs. LaDawn Partlow http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5758-8659 Morgan State University [biography]

Mrs. LaDawn E. Partlow serves as the Director of Academic Engagement and Outreach for the Cyber Security Assurance and Policy (CAP) Center at Morgan State University. She earned both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Morgan State University. Mrs. Partlow also serves as the Program Director of the Verizon Innovative Learning Program as well as the Females are Cyber Stars Program, which both focus on providing minority middle school youth with hands-on learning experiences using advanced technology, coding and programming. Mrs. Partlow has also served as an online course development specialist responsible for the creation, organization, and delivery of several web based Electrical Engineering courses offered at Morgan State University. Her technical expertise includes web-based learning, online course development, information management, systems integration, and 3-D simulation and modeling.
Dr. Michel A Kornegay Morgan State University [biography]

Dr. Michel A. Kornegay (Reece) is currently an Associate Professor and a senior faculty researcher for the Center of Reverse Engineering and Assured Microelectronics (CREAM) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Morgan State Universi
Prof. Kevin Kornegay http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-5233-0154 Morgan State University [biography]

Kevin T. Kornegay received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, in 1985 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1990 and 1992, respectively. He is

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