An Assessment Framework for Serious Games Focused on Cybersecurity

This full research paper presents a framework and a dashboard for assessing serious games focused on cybersecurity to determine whether a coding camp that employs serious games as a teaching strategy has met its objectives. Coding camps are a unique platform for experiential learning. For example, participants can develop essential skills, such as cybersecurity and game design, by creating serious games focused on cybersecurity. However, methods for comprehensively assessing student outcomes are missing, particularly given the early-stage development of their serious games. We developed a framework to evaluate early prototypes of serious games focused on cybersecurity. Moreover, we designed a dashboard to provide instructors with a comprehensive overview of students' learning outcomes. We conducted an expert review of 20 serious games created by 85 upper secondary school students aged 15 to 17 who worked in teams of three during a coding camp. The findings of this study emphasize the potential of the framework and dashboard to assist instructors in verifying whether the predefined educational objectives were successfully met. Instructors can use the framework and the dashboard in contexts beyond coding camps, particularly in scenarios that involve similar time constraints and the need to create early prototypes.