College of Education Researchers to Integrate Cybersecuirty with Math, Science Lessons through $2 Million Grant-funded Project

From creating online accounts and communicating through games or social media to accessing educational applications and websites in school, elementary-aged students are regularly accessing technology. But these young students might not always be aware of the safety risks that come with being online, and elementary school teachers may have limited preparation to teach cybersecurity topics. 

Professor of Learning, Design and Technology Florence Martin, along with Professor of Mathematics Education and Special Education Jessica Hunt and Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor of Science Education Sarah Carrier, aim to address this issue through a new project entitled “Teacher Professional Development and Collaboration to Integrate Cybersecurity in Mathematics and Science Elementary Curriculum.”

The project, which is funded by a $2,010,135 National Science Foundation DRK-12 grant and conducted in collaboration with the University of Delaware, is designed to develop and test an innovative professional development program that will support teachers to infuse cybersecurity lessons into fourth and fifth grade math and science instruction.

“Early awareness of cybersecurity for elementary learners can lead to better digital habits and a stronger understanding of the risks and challenges in the digital world. Elementary teachers can also benefit from a strong understanding of cybersecurity concepts to educate and model safe online behavior for their students,” said Martin, who is the project’s principal investigator. “When teachers are prepared on cybersecurity awareness topics such as cyberbullying, digital security, digital privacy and digital footprint, they can seamlessly integrate these concepts into various subjects, making learning more relevant and engaging for elementary learners.”

The project team will break down a variety of cybersecurity topics and work with what teachers already know to align these ideas with grade-level and developmentally appropriate math and science topics. 

For example, Hunt said, teachers could have students participate in activities that simulate how companies use online data to tailor advertisements to teach students about digital footprints and how online actions leave data traces. Students could then use classroom surveys about topics like favorite songs to determine mean values and create data representations to understand how algorithms on services like YouTube make recommendations to users using data. 

Lessons like this, Hunt said, not only teach cybersecurity, but introduce mathematical concepts like probability, averages and analysis of how averages can predict group behaviors. 

“Cybersecurity awareness experiences for elementary students will provide a strong foundation for safe and responsible digital behavior throughout their lives,” Martin said.  “Through these experiences, teachers can inspire students’ interest early on, encouraging them to explore future opportunities in STEM fields, including potential careers in cybersecurity.”

To learn how to effectively implement these lessons, teachers who participate in this professional development program will engage in four, 10-hour online cybersecurity awareness modules. The design process will be led by Martin with support from Friday Institute for Educational Innovation Research Scholar Rebekah Davis, who will also be facilitating the professional development.

Teachers will then meet at the Friday Institute for a two-day summer workshop with the goal of creating 15 cybersecurity-infused math and science lessons, with Hunt leading the workshop related to mathematics and Carrier leading the workshop related to science. Teachers will create one prototype lesson each for math and science during the workshop and will then develop three additional lessons asynchronously. All five lessons will be implemented with students once the school year begins. 

“Elementary school science and mathematics content instruction builds a critical base for students’ future learning, and blending this content instruction with related cybersecurity concepts and practices is a natural approach,” Hunt said.