Nikki Williams
Cranfield University
17th January 2020
Cyber security is a rapidly evolving subject. Although many of the core concepts have been around for some time, albeit under different names, new types of attack or vulnerability appear frequently, and cyber criminals adapt their approach as quickly as those working in security develop defences.
Incorporating industry into educational activities is one way we will ensure the curriculum remains relevant and that graduates are developing appropriate skills for the workplace. During the design of the curriculum for MK:U, we are involving industry in many ways including being on advisory boards, providing future guest lecturers, offering student placements in industry, and providing real world case studies.
Cyber security is a sector which incorporates many different job roles, is applicable within a wide variety of sectors, and consists of organisations of varying size and purpose. It is vital to cultivate a diverse set of industry links, and to allow engagement in a variety of ways. Any relationship needs to bring benefit to all parties, and below we discuss some examples of how we are implementing this as we develop the cyber curriculum for MK:U.
One of the common ways for industry to input into curriculum design is through advisory board membership.
Students benefit from access to industry partners, through the embedding of real world case studies into the curriculum, as well as access to opportunities such as placements and projects based on real world problems. It can provide an insider view about a particular type of cyber attack or vulnerability, which can then be compared and contrasted with media reports and technical documentation. For example, at MK:U we are creating much more engaging sessions on Incident Response techniques by involving someone currently in this role to deliver the sessions.
From an industry perspective, members are often in a position to see what the strengths of current graduates are, both in terms of subject knowledge and professional skills, and where there is scope for improvement. Many members want an opportunity to improve the pipeline of skilled graduates coming through, as this will benefit individual organisations and society as a whole. During the cyber security course development for MK:U, input from industry has been clear that graduates need to understand how cyber security fits within a business environment, and how it can be seen as an enabler, rather than a barrier to innovation and productivity.
MK:U will use the members of the advisory board as a sounding board for new ideas, to form new collaborations, and to ensure their curriculum remains current and relevant. This provides an additional level of assurance, and will complement course accreditation from appropriate bodies such as the National Cyber Security Centre, or the British Computer Society.
The inclusion of guest speakers within a course can add authenticity to the learning, as well as provide colourful examples of theoretical concepts being used in the wild.
From a student’s perspective, the speakers are actually doing the job they are considering in the future, making their insights highly relevant and motivating. It provides an insight into how of theoretical concepts, such as risk assessment methods or cyber awareness programmes, are used to help solve real world problems. A security operations manager could entertain students with war stories of dealing with security problems in their working life. It also provides a useful networking opportunity with many speakers happy to answer questions after a session or connect with students after the event.
For the speaker, it provides an excellent way to give back to their community or the institution they graduated from. It can also be used as a recruitment opportunity, with a chance to speak about working for their organisation, recount their professional journey, as well as a chance to discuss interesting examples from their job.
By incorporating guest speakers onto the MK:U cyber programmes, we will be providing an insight into how the topic fits in the real world, we will add variety to the lecturing team, and provide an opportunity to bring role models into the classroom, as well as providing the lecturer with some interesting examples for future years. When the speaker is an alumnus, it can be a wonderful chance for academic staff to catch up with a recent graduate, to see how their time at the institution helped them thrive in their chosen career, and how they have evolved as a professional. Think how motivating it is for the students to hear that the person stood in front of them was sat in their place just a few years earlier.
The inclusion of a placement within a degree brings benefits for the student, the employer, and the university as a whole.
For the student a placement provides an invaluable opportunity to see how things work in the real world, learn how to behave within a work environment, and have an opportunity to apply skills developed earlier in the course to current challenges faced by industry. A placement can also provide insight into job roles they may not have previously considered, and demonstrates how various security roles relate to each other and are used to support business goals. Students often return from their placement with a very different outlook, and a renewed motivation for their studies.
For an employer, a placement acts as an extended job interview, brings different perspectives on topics, and provides a highly motivated new member of the team. Given the current cyber security skills gap, a placement student can bring much needed skills into the organisation, as well as providing an opportunity for the organisation to give back to the industry by training the cyber security professionals of tomorrow.
At MK:U we will be using placements to strengthen links between academia and industry, provide an opportunity to showcase the talent of our students, and provide interesting examples of concepts in practice, which can be reflected upon in the classroom.
These are just three examples which strengthen industry engagement with higher education programmes and how they are to be embedded in the curriculum of MK:U academic programmes. If universities are expected to produce employment-ready graduates in fast moving subject areas such as cyber security, it is hard to see how this can be done without close industry involvement throughout the whole academic experience, from course design, learning and assessment to through to the final project.
Nikki Williams, Lecturer in Human Aspects of Cyber at Cranfield University, is leading on Cyber course development for MK:U University as well as working with colleagues from Cranfield and Aston Universities within the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Education (CILE). The joint virtual centre aims to develop new knowledge in innovative education, business-engaged educational design and innovative delivery modes in undergraduate provision within UK Higher Education. Through joint research, the sharing of best practice and the design of innovative education pathways, Aston and Cranfield Universities are supporting the proposed development of a new model STEM-focused university in Milton Keynes.
This blog has been produced for the Centre for Innovation and Learning in Education, a Catalyst OfS funded project.