Innovative Pedagogical Approaches to a Capstone Laboratory Course in Cyber Operations

This paper provides pedagogical lessons drawn from a capstone hands-on laboratory course in cyber operations. It is taught as a flipped class, where the center piece is a collection of exercises that require teams of students to set up, defend, and attack complex networks. Project designs are presented, including balancing offense and defense to improve course learning outcomes. Lessons on the recruiting and managing of an external "red team" are provided. Grading issues are addressed, as are techniques to manage students of different skills and motivations.