The Design of an Undergraduate Degree Program in Computer & Digital Forensics

Abstract

Champlain College formally started an undergraduate degree program in Computer & Digital Forensics in 2003. The underlying goals were that the program be multidisciplinary, bringing together the law, computer technology, and the basics of digital investigations; would be available as on online and oncampus offering; and would have a process-oriented focus. Success of this program has largely been due to working closely with practitioners, maintaining activity in events related to both industry and academia, and flexibility to respond to ever-changing needs. This paper provides an overview of how this program was conceived, developed, and implemented; its evolution over time; and current and planned initiatives.

An Online Graduate Program in Digital Investigation Management: Pedagogy and Overview

“…Champlain College's Computer & Digital Forensics (C&DF) undergraduate degree and academic certificate programs started in 2003 and have been previously described [9,10]. As the college reviewed the need for graduate education, it was found that another critical need in digital forensics was not being addressed by advanced education-namely, management issues related to overseeing large cases, running computer forensics labs, hiring staff, conducting research, etc.…”

Pedagogy and Overview of a Graduate Program in Digital Investigation Management

“…Champlain College's Computer & Digital Forensics (C&DF) undergraduate degree and academic certificate programs started in 2003 and have been previously described [8,9]. As the college reviewed the need for graduate education, it was found that another critical need in digital forensics was not being addressed by advanced education --namely, management issues related to overseeing large cases, running computer forensics labs, hiring staff, conducting research, etc.…”

On the Development of a Digital Forensics Curriculum

“…The IEEE and ACM communities provide great recommendations for computer related program design and curriculum development, but very little on addressing the computer forensics program and its curriculum (Liu, 2006). In the past few years, many more universities and colleges started offering courses and even developing programs in computer forensics (Gottschalk, Liu, Dathan, Fitzgerald, & Stein, 2005;Huebner et al, 2008;Kessler & Haggerty, 2008;Kessler & Schirling, 2006;Lang, 1999;Liu, 2006;Troell, Pan, & Stackpole, 2003). Unfortunately, due to the lack of standards, the quality of some these academic courses are suspect (Rogers, 2004).…”

“…There are a few research works addressing the computer forensics curriculum design (Berghel, 2003;Gottschalk et al, 2005;Kessler & Schirling, 2006;Liu, 2006;Rogers, 2004;Yasinsac, 2002;Yasinsac et al, 2003). Most of these programs in higher education contain general and survey courses on digital forensics topics (Gottschalk et al, 2005;Kessler & Schirling, 2006), others have modules or topics in computer courses (Yasinsac et al, 2003) and few have a full, in-depth digital forensics curriculum to support an expanded program (Kessler & Schirling, 2006;Peterson, Raines & Baldwin, 2007).…”

“…Most of these programs in higher education contain general and survey courses on digital forensics topics (Gottschalk et al, 2005;Kessler & Schirling, 2006), others have modules or topics in computer courses (Yasinsac et al, 2003) and few have a full, in-depth digital forensics curriculum to support an expanded program (Kessler & Schirling, 2006;Peterson, Raines & Baldwin, 2007). Some of the research works recommend courses that should be offered in digital forensic education or training programs (Kessler & Schirling, 2006;Liu, 2006). These research works describe the design of digital forensics courses but do not clearly outline specific learning modules that should be embedded in digital forensics curriculum.…”