Education DCL: EAGER: Developing a Cyber-Aerial Computing Curriculum for Improving Sky-of-Privacy-Things Education through a Modular-Based Integrated Framework

Low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles, commercially known as drones, are rapidly being deployed as a major component to build the next generation of ubiquitous computing and communication infrastructure. However, drones are frequently witnessed misbehaving by flying over private properties, restricted areas, and cyber-critical infrastructures, collecting privacy- and security-sensitive information illegally. Thus, the project team is building a Cyber-Aerial Computing curriculum to expose undergraduate engineering students to drone technology and potential drone-centric cyber and privacy threats and attacks, developing their domain knowledge, ethics, and hands-on experience. The project examines the use of Socio-Scientific Inquiry (SSI) and Flipped Learning (FL) frameworks in developing the cybersecurity workforce's ability to engage in ethically informed practices with an advanced understanding of drone technology mechanisms for various personal and societal purposes. A framework for teaching cybersecurity and privacy from multiple perspectives will also be provided to other engineering disciplines to educate their students. The project goal focuses on developing a new research-based curriculum for undergraduate engineering students to engage in an ethical exploration of drone-centric cybersecurity and privacy. First, the curriculum features an innovative drone-based research paradigm that leverages drones for users to protect against privacy invasion and information leakage using personal drones. Second, the project team uses design-based research to improve the curriculum's quality based on the SSI and FL frameworks and promote students' content mastery, higher-order thinking, and ethical decision-making. Third, the curriculum has four major learning modules with SSI-based driving questions. Each module spans four weeks with the same instructional system using SSI activities and hands-on practices to ensure this intervention performs as intended. Finally, formative and summative assessments engage students in authentic tasks and ethics discussions. The project will contribute to improving Sky-of-Privacy-Things education and the growth of the cybersecurity workforce. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.