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KU offers new cybersecurity engineering degree
LAWRENCE — A new engineering degree program at the University of Kansas will send students into the cybersecurity market armed with tools to create programs and systems that protect the world’s most critical assets from hacking, ransomware and other online threats. The Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity Engineering, approved this summer by the Kansas Board of Regents, is available through the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science.

KU researchers land grant to test app that delivers successful self-determination method for students with disabilities
LAWRENCE — University of Kansas researchers have been working with students with disabilities and their teachers to use the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction for more than a decade. A new five-year, $3.8 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences will allow them to test the efficacy of the Goal Setting Challenge App. Students will use the app for 14 highly engaging lessons that promote self-directed goal setting during the critical period of transition from secondary school to college, careers, community living and other new phases of life.

Full stories below.

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Contact: Cody Howard, School of Engineering, 785-864-2936, [email protected], @kuengineering
KU offers new cybersecurity engineering degree
LAWRENCE — A new engineering degree program at the University of Kansas will send students into the cybersecurity market armed with tools to create programs and systems that protect the world’s most critical assets from hacking, ransomware and other immensely disruptive crimes and mischief generated during the digital age.
The Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity Engineering, approved this summer by the Kansas Board of Regents, is available through the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. Students completing the required 126 credit hours — including 30 hours of math and science — will be equipped to protect data, computer systems and networks from unauthorized access and destruction involving government entities, health institutions, banking, e-commerce, academia and more.
“While dozens of schools across the country offer cybersecurity degrees of one kind or another, the inclusion of the word ‘engineering’ in the title of KU’s program means it is grounded in the calculus-based engineering that makes it all work,” said Erik Perrins, professor and chair of the electrical engineering & computer science department. While other degree programs train students to implement cyber protections, graduates of KU’s engineering-based program will be creating the actual protections themselves.
“This degree focuses on what engineers focus on, which is design,” Perrins said. “Right now, in the company where you work, someone takes a cybersecurity product off the shelf and puts it to use. What we do is different. We create the cybersecurity technology and don’t just deploy it.”
The program is designed to meet standards of the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET). It would be the fourth such engineering program to be accredited.
The program also is aligned with standards from the National Security Agency’s National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education and the National Center for Excellence in Cyber Research. For its existing programs, KU is one of 45 academic institutions nationwide to already hold both designations.
The Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science is experienced in cyber education, offering an undergraduate certificate in cybersecurity since spring 2020. A dozen students have received certificates, and an additional 43 were pursuing the certificate in spring 2023.
The department also is making another change this year, this one involving terminology: The Interdisciplinary Computing program is now known as Applied Computing. The popular program combines a background in computing with education in other professional disciplines — astronomy, biology, chemistry, journalism, economics and financial technology among them — to address real-world market needs.
The change is akin to a file name reboot, one intended to help students’ innovative and ever-applicable degrees translate more clearly with HR departments and hiring managers.
“Applied Computing is just more user-friendly,” Perrins said.
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Contact: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, KU News Service, 785-864-8858, [email protected], @ebpkansas
KU researchers land grant to test app that delivers successful self-determination method for students with disabilities

LAWRENCE — Research has shown that when students with disabilities are given ownership in their education and are involved in setting goals for themselves, they have better outcomes. Researchers at the University of Kansas who have been instrumental in developing and implementing the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction have secured funding to test a new app that delivers the proven method to students.
KU has been working with students with disabilities and their teachers to use the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction, or SDLMI, for more than a decade. A new five-year, $3.8 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences will allow them to test the efficacy of the Goal Setting Challenge App. Students will use the GSC app for 14 highly engaging lessons that promote self-directed goal setting during the critical period of transition from secondary school to college, careers, community living and other new phases of life.
Karrie Shogren, Ross and Marianna Beach Distinguished Professor of Special Education, director of the KU Center on Developmental Disabilities (KUCDD) and senior scientist at the Life Span Institute is principal investigator for the project. She said there are not many research-based apps that can engage and immediately provide feedback to students as they are setting and pursuing goals.
“One of the biggest issues in schools is often teachers having the time to implement interventions and having the training and supports to effectively use them,” Shogren said. “SDLMI was designed to be a teacher-driven intervention, and we wanted to develop the GSC app to provide teachers and schools another tool to make sure students could engage in the SDLMI and self-determination instruction.”
Valerie Mazzotti, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Special Education and affiliated faculty at KUCDD, is a co-principal investigator on the grant, and Tyler Hicks, assistant research professor and director of quantitative methods at KUCDD, is a co-investigator.
The research team will partner with Arkansas Transition Services and two cohorts of 21 high schools in the state. Approximately 85 teachers and 1,000 students will take part. A cluster randomized control trial will assign schools to use the GSC app, traditional teacher-delivered SDLMI instruction or business as usual. Students with disabilities who exit school will be followed for longitudinal examination of post-school outcomes to determine the effectiveness of the app compared with other methods. The team will also evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the GSC app.
The GSC app lessons guide students through interactive activities where they learn about self-determination, setting goals, building action plans and evaluating their progress. Students can engage with the GSC app across multiple semesters as they continue to build new goals and plans. The GSC app also contains a dashboard that allows teachers to monitor students’ progress, provide feedback and link what students are doing in the app to what they are doing in the classroom and beyond. It was designed with accessibility and universal design for learning principles, as well as culturally responsive supports and features for students with disabilities including text-to-speech, options to type or record responses and pulling responses forward to the next lesson. Teachers and students were highly engaged in the development process, which was funded with a previous IES grant.
“This project will let us look at if there are any differences when students use technology as part of the SDLMI delivery,” Shogren said. “Some students or teachers may prefer using technology, others may not, but we need to test new ways of delivering the intervention. Ultimately, the goal is to see if the GSC app works and is effective to advance transition outcomes. And, if it is successful, we want to get it out into the hands of teachers.”
The research team will analyze student outcomes including course/grade completion, GPA and standardized score tests during school and self-determination, goal attainment, graduation and dropout rates, postsecondary education enrollment and completion, and employment for post-school outcomes. They will also look at school, teacher and student characteristics and demographics that may affect outcomes. The analyses should provide more information to educators and families about how to advance self-determination and transition outcomes.
“The GSC app has the potential to provide teachers with an innovative, technology-driven tool to embed self-determination instruction into the academic day,” Mazzotti said. “We feel the app can provide an option for teachers and students to use technology to support student-directed goal setting and attainment. We are excited about this study and the opportunity to test the efficacy of the app and its impact on transition and post-school outcomes for students with disabilities.”
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Lawrence KS 66045
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http://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu

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Pollen analysis suggests peopling of Siberia and Europe by modern humans occurred during a major Pleistocene warming spell
LAWRENCE — It’s an Ice Age mystery that’s been debated for decades among anthropologists: Exactly when and how did the flow of Homo sapiens in Eurasia happen? Did a cold snap or a warming spell drive early human movement from Africa into Europe and Asia? A new study appearing in Science Advances compares Pleistocene vegetation communities around Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia, to the oldest archeological traces of Homo sapiens in the region. The researchers, including a University of Kansas professor of anthropology, use the “remarkable evidence” to tell a compelling story from 45,000-50,000 years ago with new detail: how the first humans migrated across Europe and Asia.

The Commons announces Global Revolution film series
LAWRENCE — A new film and discussion series at the University of Kansas will explore historical efforts to create change and what motivates individuals to come together to launch revolutions. The first event will take place at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at The Forum in Marvin Hall, featuring the 2013 film “The Square.” KU researchers as well as students with ties to the featured countries and regions will lead discussions following each screening.

New AAI center to focus on the intersection of technology, education
LAWRENCE — The Achievement & Assessment Institute at the University of Kansas has announced a new center, Flexible Learning through Innovations in Technology & Education (FLITE). Led by Lisa Dieker, Williamson Family Distinguished Professor in Special Education, FLITE will focus on simulation and innovations in technology, including Dieker’s current funded projects in developing artificial intelligence agents to support students with disabilities in inclusive settings.

Full stories below.

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Contact: Brendan Lynch, KU News Service, 785-864-8855, [email protected], @BrendanMLynch
Pollen analysis suggests peopling of Siberia and Europe by modern humans occurred during a major Pleistocene warming spell
LAWRENCE — It’s an Ice Age mystery that’s been debated for decades among anthropologists: Exactly when and how did the flow of Homo sapiens in Eurasia happen? Did a cold snap or a warming spell drive early human movement from Africa into Europe and Asia?
A new study appearing in Science Advances compares Pleistocene vegetation communities around Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia, to the oldest archeological traces of Homo sapiens in the region. The researchers use the “remarkable evidence” to tell a compelling story from 45,000-50,000 years ago with new detail: how the first humans migrated across Europe and Asia.
The new pollen data suggest warming temperatures supported forests that expanded into Siberia and facilitated early human migration there, at roughly the same time as more and western areas of Eurasia.
“This research addresses long-standing debates regarding the environmental conditions that early Homo sapiens faced during their migration into Europe and Asia around 40,000 to 50,000 years ago,” said co-author Ted Goebel, professor of anthropology at the University of Kansas. “It provides critical insights into environmental conditions at Lake Baikal, using pollen records to reveal surprising warmth during this period.”
Indeed, the pollen data suggest that the dispersal of people occurred during some of the highest temperatures in the late Pleistocene, which also would have featured higher humidity. The ancient pollen record shows coniferous forests and grasslands characterized the region, able to support foraging and hunting by humans. Goebel said the environmental data, combined with archeological evidence, tell a new story.
“This contradicts some recent archaeological perspectives in Europe,” said the KU researcher. “The key factor here is accurate dating, not just of human fossils and animal bones associated with the archaeology of these people, but also of environmental records, including from pollen. What we have presented is a robust chronology of environmental changes in Lake Baikal during this time period, complemented by a well-dated archaeological record of Homo sapiens’ presence in the region.”
Goebel’s collaborators were lead author Koji Shichi of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute in Kochi, Japan; Masami Izuho of Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Japan; and Kenji Kashiwaya of Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan.
While the pollen analysis was carried out in Japan, Goebel and Izuho tied the pollen data to important evidence in the archeological record of early human migration. Goebel said the emergence of full-fledged Homo sapiens in the archaeological record corresponds to changes in culture and behavior. Early modern humans of this period were making stone tools on long, slender blades, working bone, antler and ivory to craft tools — including some of the first bone needles with carved eyelets for sewing and early bone and antler spear points.
“Some of us argue that as the anatomical changes were occurring, as evidenced by the fossil record, there was a simultaneous shift in behavior and cognition,” Goebel said. “These early humans were becoming more creative, innovative and adaptable. This is when we start to observe significant changes in the archaeological record, such as cave paintings. We also find mobile art, like the early carvings known as Venus figurines. In Central Europe, there’s even an ivory sculpture dating back to this early period, depicting a lion-headed man. It’s not just replicating nature; it’s about creative expression, inventing new things, exploring new places.”
At least one human bone has been found in the region that dates to the era, according to the KU researcher.
“There is one human fossil from Siberia, although not from Lake Baikal but farther west, at a place called Ust’-Ishim,” Goebel said. “Morphologically, it is human, but more importantly, it’s exceptionally well-preserved. It has been directly radiocarbon-dated and has yielded ancient DNA, confirming it as a representative of modern Homo sapiens, distinct from Neanderthals or Denisovans, or other pre-modern archaic humans.”
Goebel said the earliest human inhabitants of the area likely would have lived in extended nuclear families or small bands, as they seem to have done in other areas of Eurasia. But because so much archeological evidence is degraded, it’s difficult to know with certainty.
“At Ust’-Ishim in Siberia, we have evidence of a fully modern human co-existing with the sites we’ve been discussing,” he said. “However, Ust’-Ishim was an isolated discovery, found by geologists eroding from a riverbank. We lack information about its archaeological context, whether it was part of a settlement or simply a solitary bone washed downstream. Consequently, linking that single individual to the archaeological sites in the Baikal region is tenuous — do they represent the same population? We think so, but definitely need more evidence.”
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Contact: Emily Ryan, The Commons, 785-864-6293, [email protected], @TheCommonsKU
The Commons announces Global Revolution film series
LAWRENCE — A new film series at the University of Kansas will explore the theme of revolution around the globe. The first event will take place at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at The Forum in Marvin Hall, featuring the 2013 film “The Square.”
The film series aims to answer questions around historical efforts to create change and what motivates individuals to come together to launch revolutions. It is co-sponsored by The Commons, International Affairs, International Support Services, the Global Awareness Program, the Center for Global & International Studies, the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies and the School of Architecture & Design.
Series curator Alireza Mirzaeinezhad, graduate student in visual art, initially suggested the idea for the series last spring after the formation of the women, life, freedom movement in Iran.
“My understanding of these events was largely shaped by the videos I discovered on the internet,” Mirzaeinezhad said. “This led me to envision a series that could serve as a valuable platform for exploring the concept of revolution through the relationship between moving images and protests — specifically as they document, report and archive these transformative moments.”
Charles Bankart, KU’s senior internationalization officer, said that it is essential to construct opportunities to come together in dialogue as a global community.
“Convening around the theme of change through revolution and exploring what revolution is, what its catalysts are and how such social movements can be viewed through different cultural and historical lenses represents a unique and powerful opportunity to acknowledge our global presence, responsibility and connections,” he said.
Film screenings will be followed by discussions led by researchers at KU whose expertise and study are relevant to the regions and topics of the events, as well as students who have relationships with the countries and regions featured.
The first event, which focuses on Egypt and the Arab Spring, will feature Marie Grace Brown, associate professor of history, whose research on the modern Middle East centers questions of intimacy, gender, empire and the body as historical text, and Ahmad Mustafa, doctoral student in political science, who studies international relations, Islamic studies, Islamic law and religiopolitical discourse in the Middle East.
The Global Revolution film series is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be available.
A second event, in conjunction with Latin American Heritage Month, will take place Oct. 11 and feature a screening of “Las Sandinistas,” followed by a discussion led by Hispano Durón, Langston Hughes Visiting Professor of Film & Media Studies.

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Contact: Alicia Marksberry, Achievement & Assessment Institute, [email protected], @AAI_at_KU
New AAI center to focus on the intersection of technology, education

LAWRENCE — The Achievement & Assessment Institute (AAI) at the University of Kansas has announced a new center, Flexible Learning through Innovations in Technology & Education (FLITE), whose mission is to provide an integrated structure for emerging technologies aligned with student and teaching learning.

Led by Lisa Dieker, a Williamson Family Distinguished Professor in Special Education, FLITE will focus on simulation and innovations in technology, including Dieker’s current funded projects in developing artificial intelligence agents to support students with disabilities in inclusive settings and creating observational tagging tools and harvesting resources for coaches and special education teachers in STEM instruction.
“I do not want to do what’s already there. I want to do what no one else has dared to try yet, using technology grounded in best practices and education,” Dieker said.
Dieker comes to KU from the University of Central Florida where she was a Pegasus Professor and Lockheed Martin Eminent Scholar in the College of Community Innovation and Education. She served as the director of the Lockheed Martin Mathematics and Science Academy, program coordinator for the doctoral program in special education and co-directed the UCF Center for Research in Education Simulation Technology.
Her research interests include special education, STEM education, teacher training and professional development, artificial intelligence, virtual environments, and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
“Lisa is a well-known and respected leader in the field of education, and her addition to AAI is extremely exciting,” said Neal Kingston, director of AAI and University Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology. “FLITE is an exceptional addition to the institute, and I look forward to seeing what new discoveries and innovative approaches Lisa will take in her new role as director.”
Dieker’s work encompasses technological inventions, trademarks and patents, including software, simulations and artificial intelligence. Dieker said FLITE gives her even more freedom and opportunity to explore and experiment with emerging concepts.
“The beauty of being the director of my own center is the freedom to take risks, jump off cliffs and think differently,” Dieker said. “You can’t take flight without an engine, and AAI will be the engine that helps FLITE take off and become a hub of innovation.”
Dieker has worked closely with faculty, researchers and students to improve professional development and the use of technology in classrooms. FLITE will have both affiliated and core faculty working on grants and projects that advance the center’s mission. Dieker said she hopes to continue making connections at KU to improve flexible learning and technology across all fields of study.
“I want FLITE to be a gathering spot for people,” Dieker said. “It will be a place that does its own innovation but also acts as a hub or a resource for other people that are not necessarily part of the center.”
Dieker has multiple degrees in special education, and much of her work since the beginning of her career has focused on students with disabilities and their education in science and math classes. Dieker’s work in emerging technology and its use in classrooms grew from her interest in the education of students with disabilities and seeing how technology helped her students with disabilities succeed.
“Technology is a game changer. I have graduated 24 Ph.D. students with disabilities, and many of them had really high-tech skills, so that’s why I think technology is a pathway for access and equity,” she said.
An example of how Dieker is able to use emerging technology to benefit the education of students with disabilities in STEM is Project RAISE, a collaborative project between United Cerebral Palsy of Central Florida and the University of Central Florida to research how artificial intelligence can be used to teach children on the autism spectrum how to code and recognize social cues. The project involves an AI avatar and biometric monitoring to gauge students’ stress levels and emotions.
“I want to find ways to ensure equity and access in math and science classes by making sure students have the right technological tools and the right teacher with the right tools. My goal is for everyone to be at or above grade level,” she said.
Although FLITE focuses heavily on innovative technology, Dieker said she wants to make sure to include all learners of all abilities and preferences to ensure FLITE is being as equitable and accessible as possible.
“I chose not to use special education in the center’s name and chose to use flexible learning instead with the vision that students can be the ones who decide how to learn,” Dieker said.
FLITE’s vision and work is grounded in KU’s strategic plan, Jayhawks Rising, particularly in student success and research and discovery. Its addition this, it continues AAI’s mission of improving the lives of children and adults through academics and research.
“We are so excited and honored to welcome Professor Dieker to KU and the School of Education,” said Rick Ginsberg, dean of the School of Education & Human Sciences. “Her energy and passion for innovation and student success is apparent. I am excited to see her at the helm of FLITE and working together with AAI to improve and advance education for all students.”

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KU News Service
1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence KS 66045
Phone: 785-864-3256
Fax: 785-864-3339
[email protected]
http://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs