Device Dash: Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating an Educational Computer Security Game
Era Vuksani · Wellesley College Digital RepositoryWellesley (Wellesley College) · 2012
This thesis describes the making and testing of an educational game, Device Dash, that is designed to teach important computer security concepts normally described in technical documents, such as the SANS Critical Controls, in a fun and more easily understandable way.We discuss the different aspects of designing an educational game, as well as our own vision for our game.A detailed level-by-level overview of Device Dash is provided, in which we explain its teaching goals and its gameplay.To evaluate Device Dash's effectiveness for teaching computer security, we conducted a series of tests to measure the players' knowledge before and after playing the game.The results suggest that Device Dash improves the players' knowledge about the security risks in a network and methods to reduce these risks.With the most heartfelt appreciation, I thank my advisors, Tyler Moore, Richard Lippmann, and Tamara Yu, for their constant guidance and involvement in this paper and in the creation of Device Dash.Without them, this thesis would not have been possible.Also, many thanks to my committee for providing feedback and taking part in this process with me.Thank you also to my aunt