2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

As cybersecurity education evolves to address the growing complexity of cyber-physical systems (CPS) and machine learning (ML)-driven threats, there is a pressing need for pedagogical approaches that integrate research immersion with experiential learning. This work presents findings from a graduate-level course (CS7389F: Secure Cyber-Physical Systems) at Texas State University, which implemented a research-based role-playing framework to engage students in critical analysis, reproduction, and innovation of cybersecurity research. Students adopted one of five structured roles namely Reviewer, Archaeologist, Student Researcher, Reproducibility Checker, and Quanta Correspondent during a semester-long sequence of paper readings and projects. The study measured students’ perceptions before and after course completion using pre- and post-surveys (N = 18 pre; N = 18 post). Quantitative analysis of role preference distributions revealed that Student Researcher and Reviewer roles gained prominence post-intervention, reflecting increased engagement with authentic research practices and critical evaluation. Chi-square tests (χ² = 1.03, p = 0.91) indicated stable distributional trends overall, but descriptive shifts highlighted deeper identification with research-contributing roles. Qualitative feedback corroborated these findings, emphasizing that the role-based framework enhanced students’ confidence in reviewing, replicating, and extending published studies. This approach demonstrates how graduate cybersecurity education can transition from content transmission to research apprenticeship, cultivating higher-order competencies in evaluation, reproducibility, and innovation.