Six Best Practices for Teaching IT Security in 2023 – A zyBooks Guide

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In a dozen-plus years of teaching IT Security I’ve relied on these best practices to keep my students engaged, excited and, most importantly, retaining what they’re learning. These practices have been invaluable to me. I hope you find them useful, too. […]

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First day: Start strong, avoid “Syllabus day”

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On the first day, I start strong: I warmly welcome students, share my passion for the subject, and excitedly jump into the material. If it’s intro to programming, I open a coding window and start coding. I include media, interactions, group activities, and humor (well, my attempt), so the first day looks like future lectures. I do go over the syllabus […]

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Less Is More: Students Skim Lengthy Online Textbooks

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View the original Journal Publication by C. Gordon, R. Lysecky, and F. Vahid. Computer science textbooks with lengthy text explanations of concepts are often considered thorough and rigorous, so lengthy textbooks (and class notes) are commonplace. Some, however, suggest text should be concise because people tend to skim lengthy text. This article takes advantage of […]

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Theory to Practice: Reducing Student Attrition in Online Undergraduate Math

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View the original Journal Publication Jacquelyn Kelly, Alex Edgcomb, Jim Bruno, Chelsea Gordon, Frank Vahid Researchers have developed numerous effective theory-based practices for teaching undergraduate general education mathematics (UGEM); however, many universities have struggled for decades to close the gap from theory to practice. This gap contributes to the national lack of skilled STEM workers. […]

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