What's the grade of your diagram?: Towards a streamlined approach for grading UML diagrams

Abstract

After 25 years, university courses still teach UML modeling to some extent. Also, UML is still the go-to language when practitioners need to model software systems. Evaluating UML models created by students remains a challenge faced by instructors. Some challenges are: (1) assessment criteria are not clear, making it difficult to justify test scores and produce qualitative feedback to enhance the learning process; (2) evaluating UML models is a time-consuming task, limiting the broader development of models by students; and (3) difficulty in giving feedback on the modeling in a timely manner. While recognizing this problem, current literature does not explore it to full extent. This article sheds light on these issues when introducing the UMLGrade, which is an initial proposal to streamline the process of grading UML diagrams. UMLGrade seeks to enhance the learning of UML models through assessment reports considering semantic, syntactic aspects, design rules, readability, and object-oriented principles. An initial process is introduced which can serve as a starting point for new initiatives.