2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

WIP: Using Gamification to Introduce DevSecOps Concepts to Software Engineering Students

Presented at Software Engineering Division (SWED) Technical Session 3

DevSecOps is a paradigm that integrates security practices throughout the DevOps pipeline, fostering shared responsibility among development, operations, and security teams. While essential in modern software engineering, these concepts—along with Agile methodologies and risk management—are often abstract and difficult for undergraduate students to grasp. This paper introduces BuildOps, a gamified learning tool designed to engage students with DevSecOps principles through interactive play. Extending the Agile App Security Game, BuildOps addresses the limitations of fixed scenarios by incorporating stochastic sprint outcomes, dynamic attack events, and prioritization trade‑offs between feature delivery and security debt. The activity simulates real‑world development, requiring players to balance sprint planning and risk mitigation while working within resource constraints. We detail the evolution of BuildOps from prototyping to pilots in a cybersecurity summer camp, a junior‑level DevSecOps course, and a general software engineering course. Preliminary results indicate that gamification significantly enhances engagement and comprehension. Future work will explore industry validation, scalability, and formal assessment strategies to quantify learning gains.

Authors

Dr. Walter W Schilling Jr. Milwaukee School of Engineering [biography]

Dr. Walter Schilling is a Professor and Program Director for Cybersecurity Systems in the Diercks School of Advanced Computing at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). He teaches courses in both the Cybersecurity Systems and Software Engineering programs, specializing in software reliability, static analysis, cybersecurity, embedded systems, software verification, and software security.
Before joining the MSOE faculty, Dr. Schilling served as a graduate researcher at NASA’s Glenn Research Center and worked as a software product design engineer for both Visteon Corporation and Ford Motor Company.
He currently serves as an editor for the Computers in Education Journal and is a commissioner with the ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC), supporting quality assurance in engineering education.
Dr. Schilling’s contributions to engineering education have been recognized with several honors, including the Ohio Space Grant Consortium Doctoral Fellowship, the ASEE New Engineering Educators Distinguished Service Award, the Merl K. Miller Award from the Computers in Education Journal, and the ASEE Computers in Education Distinguished Service Award.

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