Curriculum Model
De Anza College, Foothill College, Socratic Arts, CMU partners and industry
representatives have developed a scenario-based
curriculum in Enterprise Security that simulates complex problems
in companies. The Scenario-based Curriculum approach draws
upon the Cognitive Science research of the late 80s done by
Dr. Roger Schank and others.
Key components of the pedagogical model developed by the project include:
- A detailed scenario describing the start-up company in which the students are “employed” and their roles within that company. The rich context allows for reliable transfer
of skills and knowledge from the course to the workplace.
- Online resources and links, which provide just-in-time learning and scaffolding
for students, allowing them to build on their existing knowledge.
- Team based projects and tasks, providing students with practice in working and
communicating with fellow “employees,” while they learn by doing.
- Role playing that allows students to live the life of a worker in the target
field, learning and practicing to be a successful professional.
- Reflection questions, allowing students to think about and articulate what they
learned throughout the process of working on a task.
- Tasks and product deliverables, which are based on industry standards, and replace
assignments and exams.
- Team meetings with management (the instructor), which replace lectures.
Performance support for students is provided for each task through a suggested
plan of attack, tips and traps, and a checklist for deliverables.
In addition, the instructor serves as "upper management" guiding the student toward resources as needed. Subject matter experts serve
as Mentors to the students and are available to consult on
some tasks.
Performance support for instructors and mentors is provided through a mentor
guide, which includes rubrics, task overview and instructions,
360-degree assessment forms and model solutions.
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