The role of cyber competitions in cyber defense education: A case study of National Cyber League (NCL) participation.

This research paper explores the value of cybersecurity competitions in cyber defense education and its impact on the cybersecurity industry and workforce development. Competitions are considered active and challenge based learning that can be used as effective pedagogies to improve student interest, motivation, and problem solving in education. For cyber defense education quality assurance, student participation in cyber competitions is required for the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (NCAE-CDE) designation by the US National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security (NSA/DHS). This research is based on the Challenge Based Learning (CBL) framework and explores the pedagogical benefits of cybersecurity competitions through the case study of the National Cyber League (NCL) competition. The case study in this research focuses on mapping the features and knowledge and skill domains of the NCL competition to relevant NCAE-CDE program criteria and knowledge units and presents sample data on students' participation and performance from a NCAE-CDE designated institution. This study also analyzes the quantitative data and qualitative observations and reflections on student participation in the NCL competition and their performance in cyber defense educational programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]