AN INTERACTIVE LEARNING APPROACH FOR TEACHING DIFFIE – HELLMAN KEY EXCHANGE PROTOCOL

Abstract

The article presents an interactive learning approach for teaching the Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol. The proposed framework combines structured exercises with an interactive web-based simulation that visualizes each stage of the protocol. The learning process is organized into a sequence of tasks, starting from modular arithmetic and leading to full protocol execution and security analysis.
The approach was implemented with first-year Cybersecurity and DevOps students and evaluated through a questionnaire assessing learners’ perceptions of understanding and usability. Results indicate that students reported improved understanding of the Diffie-Hellman protocol and found the visual and interactive elements helpful in understanding the computation of the shared secret. Participants also reported that the simulation helped them follow the sequence of operations in the protocol and improved engagement compared to traditional manual problem-solving. Future work will focus on controlled experimental evaluation and extension of the framework to additional public-key cryptographic algorithms.