Project-Based Learning Approach in Undergraduate Engineering Course of Cryptography and Security in Computer Science

Abstract

The core idea of project-based learning (PBL) is to focus on the real-world problems that capture students' interest and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in students. We present in this paper how project-based learning help students to learn factors in project design and how technology can support students when they work on the projects. It presents the difference between traditional learning and project-based learning and also presents the execution of a project-based approach used in the work of the course conducted for sixth-semester students of the University of Mumbai that is Cryptography and System Security. Cryptography is a technique to convert the data from plain text to encrypted text and Vice a Versa. Security provides protection to any information from theft or damage from hardware or software. In our institute, Cryptography and System Security course are chosen for designing the PBL approach from Couse Level Project-Based Learning (CLPBL) because of its difficulty is higher level and importance in Industry. In the CLPBL process the teacher gives the key concept of projects to students and students will find out an appropriate solution for a given problem by using different security techniques, algorithms and authentication methods, etc. After completion of projects, students submit implementation, as well as documentation and the teacher, will evaluate them by using different assessment tools. Resulting from this is the students built enough confidence to implement not only what they learned in the class but also practically they can implement these concepts.