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The primary goal of the authentic learning approach is to engage and motivate students in learning real world problem solving. We report our experience in developing k-nearest neighbor (KNN) classification for anomaly user behavior detection, one of the authentic machine learning for cybersecurity (ML4Cybr) learning modules based on 10 cybersecurity (CybrS) cases with machine learning (ML) solutions. All portable labs are made available on Google CoLab. So students can access and practice these hands-on labs anywhere and anytime without software installation and configuration which will engage students in learning concepts immediately and getting more experience for hands-on problem solving skills.
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This content will become publicly available on July 29, 2026
Learning from Irreproducibility: Introducing Data Leakage Case Studies for Machine Learning Education
Data leakage remains a pervasive issue in machine learning (ML), especially when applied to science, leading to overly optimistic performance estimates and irreproducible findings. Despite its prevalence, data leakage receives limited attention in ML education, in part due to the lack of accessible, hands-on teaching resources. To address this gap, we developed interactive learning modules in which students reproduce examples from academic publications that are affected by data leakage, then repeat the evaluation without the data leakage error to see how the finding is affected. These modules were deployed by the authors in two introductory machine learning courses, enabling students to explore common forms of leakage and their impact on model reliability. Following their engagement with these materials, student feedback highlighted increased awareness of subtle pitfalls that can compromise machine learning workflows.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2226408
- PAR ID:
- 10636853
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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