Applied and Experiential Learning
Courses use realistic scenarios, technical environments, laboratory evidence, professional tools, physical devices, field experiences, and staged projects that connect academic concepts with professional practice.
Teaching and Mentoring
Teaching
Teaching is the center of Dr. Yerby’s academic work. His approach emphasizes clear expectations, meaningful engagement, applied learning, rigorous feedback, professional judgment, and continual revision. He seeks to help students develop both technical competence and the ability to explain, evaluate, and responsibly apply what they know.
Teaching Philosophy
Dr. Yerby views teaching as a continuing process of learning, reflection, and improvement. Students benefit from structure and preparation, but effective instruction must also respond to differences in experience, confidence, professional goals, and the changing nature of cybersecurity.
His courses connect technical knowledge with organizational context, ethical reasoning, communication, and professional responsibility. The goal is not only to help students complete an assignment, but also to help them understand how their decisions affect systems, organizations, users, and the public.
Instructional Approach
Professional Communication and Judgment
Students practice documenting evidence, explaining technical findings, evaluating risk, supporting recommendations, and communicating with technical and nontechnical audiences.
Research and Mentoring
Undergraduate and graduate students receive guidance in research design, literature review, analysis, scholarly writing, presentation, publication, internships, certifications, competitions, and career preparation.
Continuous Improvement
Course organization, instructions, assignments, pacing, and learning activities are revised in response to student performance, feedback, professional developments, and changes in cybersecurity practice.
Courses Taught
The following list reflects undergraduate and graduate teaching across cybersecurity, information technology, digital forensics, management, research, internships, capstone work, and thesis supervision.
Undergraduate Courses
Cybersecurity, Security, and Digital Forensics
- Cybersecurity Principles and Foundations
- Service for Cybersecurity
- Security Experimentation
- Network Security and Protocols
- Cybersecurity Operations and Analytics
- Cyber-Crime Investigation and Forensics
- IoT, Cloud, and Mobile Security
- Web Application Security
- Network Security
- Information Security and Assurance
- Cybersecurity Experimentation
- Digital Forensics
- Digital Forensics and Data Recovery
- Advanced Digital Forensics
- Mobile Forensics
- Washington, D.C. Cyber Seminar
Governance, Management, Law, and Professional Practice
- Security, Laws, Ethics, and Policies
- Project Management
- Business Analysis
- Senior Seminar
Information Technology, Networking, and Systems
- Introduction to Information Science and Technology
- Introduction to Information Technology
- Data Communications
- Networking Essentials
- Windows Server Administration
- Virtual Computing
- Wireless Technologies
Research, Internship, Capstone, and Thesis
- Research in Cybersecurity
- Internships
- Senior Design Project
- Senior Capstone
- Master’s Thesis Research
Graduate Courses
- Enterprise Cybersecurity Management
- Information Security and Assurance
- Cybersecurity Experimentation
- Digital Forensics
- Project Management
- Master’s Thesis Research
Student Development
Teaching extends beyond scheduled courses through advising, research mentoring, thesis supervision, internships, cybersecurity competitions, professional networking, certification guidance, and conversations about graduate study and career development. These activities help students connect their academic work with a developing professional identity.