Operational Feedback Using The Unified Modeling Language (Uml) Diagrams

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a popular modeling language used in software engineering to visualize the behavior of a system, primarily designed for object-oriented modeling. When applied to organizational processes, UML diagrams help identify areas to improve a system performance. UML was successfully used in the field of education to conceptualize and optimize pedagogical strategies, and formalize learning and teaching theories. In this paper, we build on our previous work and use UML to model our distance education programs at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC with the goal of identifying the factors needed to evaluate and improve the program. For this, we have developed a UML diagram for the Orofacial Pain and Oral Medicine (OFPOM) online master program. The model captures how prospective applicants (i.e., practicing dentists) apply to the program and go through recruitment. Once the selection process is completed, the applicant may or may not become a student (e.g., applicants may reapply later, or may not meet the requirements and leave the system). Staff main roles include, student recruitment, registration and help desk support. Faculty participates in the applicant review process and during the academic activities evaluate student performance. The events are dependent on the type of program, and represent the different activities that the student completes to comply with the program requirements. We have identified three main components in our model: the virtual classroom component includes all online activities, the events component includes all face-to-face activities, and the evaluations component includes all performance tests. An expert review of the diagram was conducted by participating Faculty and Staff, which helped identify and resolve issues (e.g., updating the student manual and the Faculty/Staff handbook). We expect, this model to play a critical role in helping us improve the quality of the program by providing a framework on which the performance of each one the components and sub-components is monitored and the impact of changes can be contextualized. Our program UML diagram combines the sequence of activities with the different actors, highlighting the interaction between the three main components of the program: Virtual resources, academic events and evaluation. We further discuss how our program UML diagram lets us identify and visualize the different elements and interactions and how we use it to maintain and improve the program quality.