Slow Education and Cognitive Agility: Improving Military Cyber Cadet Cognitive Performance for Better Governance of Cyberpower

Abstract

Governance of cyberpower from a military perspective are focused on the efforts to control and influence events occurring in cyberspace. For the Norwegian Defence, this means educating cyber engineers, responsible for governing cyberpower effects, beyond technical skills and competencies. To match the complexity of modern warfighting necessitates adaptive high-order thinking skills. Building on earlier cognitive engineering and human factors research in cyber defence this article suggests how Slow Education has the potential to improve cognitive performance among cyber cadets. Slow techniques were applied to 37 cyber cadets during a three-year bachelor programme at the Norwegian Defence Cyber Academy. The quantitative data for this study was gathered during a two-week Cyber Defence Exercise. Combining and applying a novel pedagogic method with psychological techniques suggests reflective pondering, self-regulation and metacognition as being associated with cognitive agility. This study helps develop and make metrics available that are suitable to evaluate human performance in cyber defence.