Education Sciences

Artificial Intelligence is increasingly embedded in national security, defense, and critical infrastructure systems, yet the security of these systems remains insufficiently addressed in traditional cybersecurity education. National initiatives led by the National Security Agency and the National Science Foundation have identified the Security of Artificial Intelligence (SecureAI) as a distinct educational priority supported by formal knowledge units and program validation requirements. Concurrently, workforce data and federal reporting reveal persistent shortages of qualified cybersecurity professionals, particularly in defense and government sectors. This paper presents Illinois Institute of Technology as a case study in the design of a SecureAI applied concentration aligned with NSA-style knowledge units and Center of Academic Excellence principles. The paper demonstrates how a four-course SecureAI program, anchored by a shared undergraduate and graduate cybersecurity foundation, addresses emerging AI security risks while strengthening the national cybersecurity workforce pipeline.

Girls can develop poor perceptions of mathematics and themselves as doers of mathematics relatively early in their schooling. Strengthening their content knowledge and attitudes toward mathematics can improve their participation in voluntary math-related pursuits, including careers. The purpose of this research was thus to investigate the role of one potential support strategy: a one-week residential summer mathematics program for middle school girls. We examined 48 girls’ pre- and post-perceptions of mathematics while attending such a program. At the program’s beginning and end, the girls wrote a brief “Dear Math” letter to share their perceptions of and relationship to mathematics, and they were asked to draw and explain a picture of themselves doing mathematics. Participant data were analyzed into themes, and program beginning and end data were compared for evidence of change. The data showed favorable movement, particularly in viewing mathematics as a more collaborative and less procedural endeavor than participants previously thought. The program’s atmosphere and approaches were deemed integral to the outcomes achieved, some of which were unique to out-of-school-time programs and some of which might be applied to formal schooling. Implications for pedagogy, research, and out-of-school time programs are discussed.

Peer- and self-critical skills are key to properly performing engineering work, as they allow engineering students to develop critical thinking regarding the quality standards required in this professional field. This research aimed to determine whether educational experiences based on temporal survey-based programs enabled the successful development of these skills in students enrolled in six courses in the final years of their engineering degrees. To this end, an educational experience of such a nature was implemented throughout a complete academic year, aimed at fostering peer- and self-critical skills through continuous formative assessment. The experience involved six student presentations evaluated by both teachers and peers using a Likert-scale survey encompassing four dimensions: explanatory ability, file quality, attitude, and overall assessment. Subsequently, these assessments were provided to students to encourage reflection on the scores assigned and their own work. The results revealed strong alignment between teacher and peer evaluations, with average deviations below 7%, demonstrating effective development of peer-critical competences. These results were also verified by means of analyses of variance. The greatest consistency was found in “explanatory ability” and “overall assessment,” while “file quality” and “attitude” showed wider variability, experience playing a key role in their precise evaluation. Peer evaluations tended to be more uniform than teachers’, reflecting students’ limited experience in discerning subtle performance differences. Additionally, 30% of students expressed willingness to repeat their final presentation to achieve a higher grade, evidencing substantial self-critical reflection. Qualitative analysis conducted through deductive cross-coding indicated that this motivation stemmed from both intrinsic self-improvement and peer-related responsibility. Overall, the results confirm that sustained peer- and self-assessment activities can effectively cultivate critical thinking skills among engineering students, although continuous practice is required to consolidate these competences. Future research could explore the more adequate course types, and students’ ages to perform such kind of educational experiences.