ROTC cadets learn cyber offense and defense theories through playing Battlespace Next™
during the summer Immersive Cyber Education (ICE) program.
(Contributed photo by Mark McDonald)

By Dr. Mark Reith
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Air Force Institute of Technology

For at least the past decade, AFIT has annually hosted ROTC cadets from across the nation as part of its summer Immersive Cyber Education (ICE, formerly known as Advanced Cyber Education) program. In most years, we receive cadets from across the various military services, although the demographics tend to trend Air Force and Army. While the program provides an impressive technical education, our perennial challenge involves how to initiate learning with an event that appeals to the students, harnesses their enthusiasm, serves as an icebreaker, and provides context for the rest of the curriculum. Naturally, we decided to play a game.

Battlespace Next™ (BSN) is a low-cost, serious education game designed by Maj. Nathan Flack, class of 2020, and built upon the earlier work of Lt. Col. Alan Lin and other department faculty. BSN was developed to teach Joint All Domain Operations (JADO) concepts across air, space, cyber, land and naval warfighting domains to the DoD workforce. It emphasizes the interrelationship between the cyber domain (information operations, intelligence, exploits) and the other domains. ICE cadets often appreciate that their service is represented as they learn how cyber offense and defense capabilities affect their warfighting capability.

Captain Michael Hastriter, pursuing a MS in Computer Science, recently led cadets through the initial game setup and rules, then assisted them through initial game play this past summer. Capt. Hastriter is investigating the relationship between serious games and learning as he develops tools and techniques that demonstrate how game elements, decision points and outcomes may satisfy learning objectives. The survey results collected from the cadets help inform this relationship as well as validate game-based learning (GBL). Of the 42 ICE cadets, 24 responded, and the majority responded favorably in terms of effectiveness (83% of respondents) and memorability (87% of respondents).

One of the advantages of game-based learning involves a general increase in motivation and engagement. This is particularly important to the STEM community in higher education because topics are often complex and lack social interaction. From a systems engineering perspective, the game may be viewed as a model or simulation where the degree of detail is tailorable. However, from a social perspective, the game may bring students together in some form of collaboration or competition. This is important for at least two reasons. First, GBL may provide students with additional motivation to learn complex topics. Rather than wonder why they need to comprehend concepts that have no immediate value to their lives, the game provides that immediate need in support of social achievement. Second, the game provides experience to those with little or none.

Post-game discussions tend to be highly interactive because every participant has a personalized story to share. These stories are sufficiently similar to be relatable, but sufficiently divergent to remain interesting. Sharing stories allows others to learn from both successes and failures. It also allows the instructor to emphasize the learning objectives and mitigate negative learning. While GBL has certain limitations and costs, it is often sufficiently flexible to support non-cyber topics as well. Faculty can learn more about GBL in a new eBook assembled by the Faculty Learning Community due out this fall quarter.

As the ICE cadets continue their educational journey, they’ll take their BSN game and experiences with them. A few cadets have introduced BSN to their peers back at their ROTC units. Some have organized cadet wing-wide events and sent pictures back to highlight their enjoyment. While the AFIT branding on the cards may hint at future educational opportunities, the real value is a memorable experience on how cyber impacts their profession in the years ahead.