Summary of Findings From the Evaluation of CryptoClub With Video Tutorials (2015–16)

CryptoClub is an academic enrichment program designed to give students opportunities to explore their interest in cryptography in informal settings. In CryptoClub, students study cryptography and learn to use mathematical knowledge and skills to encrypt, decrypt, and solve secret messages.

In 2013 the CryptoClub development team at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) received a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to design an enhancement to the CryptoClub curriculum that would support students in creating and sharing tutorial videos focusing on cryptography skills. In the video tutorial enhancement, students take the cryptography skills they learned from CryptoClub to create brief tutorial videos that explain to other students how to solve ciphers and puzzles. The goals of the tutorials program is to augment students’ analytical skills by encouraging them to communicate their methods for solving the problems, as well as to build students’ communication skills.

Evaluators from AIR conducted a developmental evaluation of the CryptoClub video tutorials program to provide responsive feedback for ongoing program development.