Incorporating Embedded Systems Security Awareness into a Computer Science Course via Minimal Interventions

In this poster, we describe our research on the use of small units of content, termed minimal interventions, to create awareness of embedded systems security concepts in an undergraduate course, Introduction to Operating Systems and Networking. This work focuses on the incorporation of simple activities such as short readings, and the evaluation of their potential as teaching tools. To study the effectiveness of this minimal intervention approach, we collected student performance data over six (6) semesters and across multiple modalities of the course, with a total of 1,168 study participants. Students were asked to complete a short survey before and after completing the activities, to assess prior knowledge of the subject and measure knowledge gains that resulted from participation in the activity.