CybER Con Call for Proposal

Deadline Extended – Proposals are due August 15, 2023

Call for Proposals

Proposal Process & Format  

Proposals should total no more than 2500 words, not including references. All proposals will go through a peer review process. Because proposals can be research or practice-based, there is some flexibility regarding format. However, all proposals must include the following sections: a Purpose section that describes the overall focus of the work, including any research questions or specific problems of practice; an Outreach section that specifically describes who the authors were/are trying to reach through the experiential learning opportunity and how they reached (or plan to reach) them; a Significance section that describes the significance of the work for the field. These details will help reviewers and the conference audience understand the goals of your work; the possibilities for connecting with you related to your work or participating in the experiential learning opportunity you discuss, and the impact your work can have on cybersecurity broadly.  

Proposal Tracks 

Proposals should focus on one of two main areas of experiential learning in cybersecurity: 

Understanding What Works: Metrics & Experiential Learning

Proposals submitted to this area should focus on assessing or measuring the effectiveness of cyber-related experiential learning opportunities. Topics can include but are not limited to the following:

  • Theoretical works on the possibilities for assessing experiential learning opportunities
  • Works that address the role the NICE framework plays/can play in assessment of experiential learning opportunities
  • Works that address strategies for assessing effective diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts from employers’ perspectives
  • Works that address strategies for assessing effective DEI efforts from researchers’/practitioners’ perspectives
  • Specific case studies or examples of assessing experiential learning programs
  • Specific case studies or examples of how employers decide to offer experiential learning opportunities and how they assess students’ performances in those opportunities

Curricular Considerations: Designing Experiential Learning 

Proposals submitted to this area should focus on ways that cyber-related experiential learning opportunities are incorporated into coursework or focus on curricular industry/academy partnerships. Proposals could also discuss experiential learning programs that are initiated by or based at colleges/universities or ones that are initiated by or based in industries. Topics can include but are not limited to the following:

  • Specific case studies or examples of incorporating cyber-related experiential learning opportunities in technical disciplines
  • Specific case studies or examples of incorporating cyber-related experiential learning opportunities in non-technical disciplines, with a particular focus on cases that move beyond the “hard skills” “soft skills” dichotomy
  • Case studies of internship courses that offer a direct connection between non-profit, for-profit, or government organizations with proposals focusing on the perspectives of the academy, industry, or both
  • Works that address how the academy, industry, or both incorporate efforts related to accessibility, inclusion, DEI, etc. into their experiential learning design, delivery, and recruitment efforts for students and/or agencies
  • Works that address how non-profit, for-profit, or government organizations connect to experiential learning opportunities offered by colleges/universities
  • Works that address how non-profit, for-profit, or government organizations design and offer experiential learning opportunities
  • Works that address how colleges/universities design and offer experiential learning opportunities

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COVA CCI CybER Con is sponsored by the Coastal Virginia Center for Cybersecurity Innovation (COVA CCI) and the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI).

For additional information email covacci@odu.edu.

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