Designing and Constructing Authentic Assessments for Cybersecurity Education

This paper explores the development of authentic assessments for cybersecurity education using the Villarroel Model. Despite numerous educational initiatives worldwide, there remains a significant shortage of experienced cybersecurity professionals. Better educational materials must be used to attract students to the field. Additionally, with Gartner predicting that over 80 % of enterprises will have used generative AI by 2026, there is an urgent need to incorporate emerging technologies into cybersecurity education. Authentic assessments can help develop university students better for workforce needs. This study adapts the Villarroel Authentic Assessment model to create a industryrelevant framework to develop practical assessments for cybersecurity students. To demonstrate the use of the framework, an authentic assessment was designed for first-year information technology students at RMIT University in Vietnam. The research demonstrates how authentic assessments can be effectively designed by combining industry standards, professional expertise, and contemporary technological trends to prepare students for real-world cybersecurity challenges.