UML ALANYSIS FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR
HIGHER EDUCATION
Mahmud Kandel
Faculty of Engineering , Mansoura University ,
Egypt
Ahmed. E. Hassan
Faculty of Engineering , Mansoura University ,
Egypt
arwaahmed1@gmail.com
Aziza. S. Asem
Faculty of Computers and Information sciences, Mansoura University ,
Egypt
Mohamed. E. Ibrahim
Faculty of Computers and Information sciences, Mansoura University ,
Egypt
Abstract
One of the most important concerns of the current institutions of higher education is the management process to ensure quality. The most important problems facing these institutions is the quality assurance evaluation process. One of the best ways to overcome this problem building a system based on a computer to manage that process. We will define this system as "a Quality Assurance Management system For Higher Education (QAMS)". During this paper we will explain our vision and analysis to build such a system.
During the system construction we must identify the main modules for the system and the relationships between them. Our QAMS will be constructed to enable the quality evaluator to evaluate the institution quality and generate the final quality report automatically without additional efforts. The main purpose from this paper is to explain our QAMS components. This view will be illustrated by using the UML language diagrams as use-case diagram, data flow diagram, flowchart, and activity diagram.
Keywords: Quality Assurance, QAMS, UML, Higher education
1- Introduction
Quality assurance in educational institutions has become a matter of life or death. Without a guarantee of quality within the educational institution there is no education and therefore there is no recognition of the institution and its graduates
The importance of Quality Assurance in Higher Education with it's all components has became one of the social requirements, which presented up in all the political levels to develop the graduates qualifications in order to cope with the job market needs , also there are some new technologies appeared recently as " Quality Assurance, Quality Rectification" these terminologies mean using the process of assessing and rectifying as one of the evidences on achievement of the institution for the quality of education which encourages many developed countries in the H.E field for preparing Guides to the restrictions of processing students assessments in their institutions [2].
Quality assurance has been defined as "systematic management and assessment procedures adopted by higher education institutions and systems in order to monitor performance against objectives, and to ensure achievement of quality outputs and quality improvements" (Harman, 2000, p. 1) [3]. In general, the term QA refers to a process of defining and fulfilling a set of quality standards consistently and continuously with the goal of satisfying all consumers, producers, and the other stakeholders [3].
In higher education, quality assurance refers to the procedures, processes and systems used by higher education institutions to manage and improve the quality of their education and other activities [4]. The quality of higher education delivered is a major concern for students, institutions and government departments, particularly as the "unit of resource" continues to decline. Quality issues impinge on all aspects of an institution's planning, students' and staff performance, administration and finance [1].
2. System Modules
A Quality assurance Management system (QAMS) consists of the policies, attitudes, actions and procedures necessary to ensure that quality is being maintained and enhanced. Quality assurance system is applied to [7]:
The courses and degrees offered and the learning content, The staff
Technology Learning methods Services
The organizational and managerial structure
Based on [7] our system has been built. The system modules are shown in figure 1.
Program Module The Course Module The staff module The technology module The method module The services module
From figure1, the main function of the course module is to check a course content, course assessment, extract and arrange the results from the student evaluations, and the offered degrees. The second module is the staff module which related to the evaluation of the staff performance, degrees, and researches. Method module will check the institution strategies and plans. Where technology modules will concentrated on the institution preparation. Finally, the institution services as electronic open and distance learning (e-ODL) will evaluated by the services module.
The different modules will interact with each other in some specified tasks. For example, during the staff evaluation process we will need some information about the staff performance. Our main recourse in this process is the students. The student will evaluate his staff through the student evaluation process. The student evaluation process contains the evaluation of the staff itself and the student feedback. The student evaluation process is a task for the course evaluation module. So, the staff module will send a request to the course module contains the staff name and the course module will reply by all related student feedbacks to be used in the evaluation process.
3- The High Level UML Diagrams For The QAMS
The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a standard language for specifying, visualizing, constructing, and documenting the artifacts of software systems, as well as for business modeling and other non-software systems. The UML represents a collection of best engineering practices that have proven successful in the modeling of
large and complex systems. The UML is a very important part of developing object oriented software and the software development process. The UML uses mostly graphical notations to express the design of software projects. Using the UML helps project teams communicate, explore potential designs, and validate the architectural design of the software.
In this part we will discuss the system through a set of high level UML diagrams as DFD, Flowchart, Use-Case diagram, and the activity diagram.
3-1 Data Flow Diagram
Data flow diagram (DFD) is a picture of the movement of data between external entities and the processes and data stores within a system.
From figure1, we can construct the data flow diagram (level 1) for the QAMS as shown at figure2. In this diagram, the evaluator needs to evaluate the institution quality by sending an "evaluate order". The system receive this request and automatically collect the needed data from the institution database and provide them to the evaluator. During the evaluation process, the system will perform some tasks automatically- for example the analysis process for the students feedback – and provide them to the evaluator. The intended result of this process is the quality evaluation report.
Figure2 contains five processes: course evaluation, Staff performance evaluation, Methods evaluation, Technology evaluation, and services evaluation. Moreover, there are four data stores: the first is the program file data store that contains the institution program; the second is the course file data store that contains the course details as the content, assessments, specification and other information. The third is the students feedback data store that contains the students evaluation for courses, staff…The last data store is the report file that contains all quality evaluation reports as the course evaluation reoprt.
3-2 Use-case Diagram
A use case is a set of scenarios that describing an interaction between a user and a system. A use case diagram displays the relationship among actors and use cases. The two main components of a use case diagram are use cases and actors. An actor is represents a user or another system that will interact with the system you are modeling.
Figure 2: Level1 DFD for QAMS
3-3 Flowchart
A flow chart is a graphical or symbolic representation of a process. Each step in the process is represented by a different symbol and contains a short description of the process step. The flow chart symbols are linked together with arrows showing the process flow direction
We build the QAMS flowchart at figure4 to define the main sequence of our system work. Note that the variable 'n' represents the number of errors where the other variables represent the state of evaluation either accepted result or not. As we see, there are two types of report that can be generated by the system. The first one is the Unaccepted Error report that will be generated if the institution program not matches the main requirement and objectives of the market. The second one is the Quality report that contains the final evaluation for the institution. The Quality report will contain also the evaluator opinion towards the program and his recommendation for the system as general.
3-4 Activity Diagram
In UML, an activity diagram is used to display the sequence of activities. Activity diagrams show the workflow from a start point to the finish point detailing the many decision paths that exist in the progression of events contained in the activity. They may be used to detail situations where parallel processing may occur in the execution of some activities. Activity diagrams are useful for business modeling where they are used for detailing the processes involved in business activities.
Figure5 illustrate the general and high level activity diagram for the QAMS. This diagram starts by defining the main objectives for the institutions from it's defined program. Then the evaluation process will start, this process include the evaluation of the main five components. After this process, the quality report will be generated and the recommendation will be determines.
4- The UML Diagrams For Some System Modules
4.1 The Course module
We can say the Course module must contain three parts to check the following criteria. The three parts are : Course Design part, Course Assessment part, and Student evaluation part.
In our system, there are two input and two output for the course module. The inputs are the program ( degree offered ) and the course itself where the outputs are the recommendation and the evaluation result
Our system – according to [15] - must check the following main points to provide a high quality in course management:
Each course includes a clear statement of what the learner can hope to achieve on successful completion of the course.
Outcomes may be specified in terms of the development of specific skills, vocational or professional competences, the preparation for internally- or externally-assessed qualifications, the provision of job-related training, the imparting of information, or personal growth.
Course objectives may vary from learner to learner but are, in all cases, clearly specified in the agreement between the provider and the learner.
Where possible, the course is structured to include points for partial completion.
Where time limits for course completion are imposed by the provider, reasons should be given. Any assessments, including examinations, set by the provider during or on completion of a
course are adequate to ensure a proper assessment of the learner’s ability and achievements to date.
Where appropriate, assessment is linked to accreditation by nationally-recognized qualification-awarding bodies.
Documentary evidence of learning achieved is available where appropriate to all learners on course completion.
Any certificate of course completion provided to learners clearly indicates that it recognizes only completion of the course, and does not imply any internally or externally validated qualification
in that subject. The criteria by which “course completion” is assessed are made known to the learner prior to enrolment.
Where the outcome of a course is the declared competence to sit examinations offered, or be otherwise assessed, by another external organisation, the learner is informed of this and of the respective responsibilities of provider and applicant prior to enrolment, for example :
the on-going availability of any external qualification
the currency of any qualification offered as outcome by an external organisation What charges, if any, will be made.
The provider makes reasonable efforts to keep up-to-date with changes in the availability, entrance requirements or curricula of external examining or qualifying bodies and at no time misleads applicants or learners as to the provider’s knowledge of or responsibilities in such matters.
The course module data flow diagram (level1) is shown at figure6. This diagram will contain the following processes:
Verify the program objectives Evaluate the course contents Evaluate the course assessments
Collect and analyze the students feedbacks that is related to this course
Depending on Figure 6, the use-case diagram for course evaluation process can be illustrated at figure 7. The main actors in this diagram are evaluator, student, and the academic staff. Through this module the evaluator will:
See the program objectives See the course specification
match the course with the program to evaluate how the course serve the program. View the students results in this course
See the students feedbacks and evaluations for this course Evaluate the used references
Evaluate the results of this course Generate the evaluation report Determine the recommendations
The following diagram (figure8) represents the intended course evaluation flowchart. The evaluation process depends on the program objectives. If the course objectives not matched with the program objectives, the overall process will be stopped. If the system find that the course serve the objectives of the institution program, it will go to evaluate the other course details as the used references, the teaching time and the course results. Finally the system will generate the course evaluation report and determine the recommendations towards this course.
The course evaluation activity diagram is shown at the following figure. This diagram represents the main operation that can be occurred during the evaluation of any course as shown at figure9.
4.2 The Staff Module
Just as student performance is monitored, staff performance is also reviewed[16]. The goal of the performance management process is to link individual and group objectives to the mission of the department, division and university. The staff performance management process links individual job performance to the attainment of Carnegie Mellon’s vision, mission and goals. Performance management is a continuous process that involves supervisors and employees in the identification and evaluation of key job performance objectives and competencies that contribute to the achievement of organizational goals [19].
As we said, in our system the main function of staff module is the evaluation of staff performance as general. This module will play an important role by interaction with the evaluator when he needs to evaluate the performance of staff.
The inputs of this module are the staff data (as his Name, ID, Degrees and researches), the results of the students that will reflect the performance and the effect of the staff on them, and the students feedback. The Students feedback is the most important input for this module, it will contains the comments and the opinions of the students about that staff. The staff module will interact with the course module to get the Students feedbacks as we said above.
The following diadrams are the Staff module UML diagrams that show how this module work and what is the main functions of it as the same sequence used at the Course module.
Figure11 shows the staff evaluation use-case diagram. The main actors of this diagrams are the evaluator and the student. Our work concentrated on the evaluator actor. This actor will:
Collect the staff data as: Name, ID, ……..
See the students evaluations for the courses that teach by the staff Collect the students opinions towards the enhancements
See the staff degrees and researches to identify his speclialization Generate the staff report and determine the recommendations
Figure11: The Staff Evaluation Use–Case diagram
4.3 The Technology module
Figure 13: The Staff Evaluation Activity Diagram
5- Conclusion
Quality Assurance is the new challenge for higher education institutions. There are an important need to construct a system that manage the quality assurance for higher education. The first stage towards implementing such system is to define it's framework , components , attributes, and stakeholders .This system must manage the following university components : The courses and degrees offered and the learning contents , The staff , Technology , Learning methods , Services and The organizational and managerial structure. And should apply the following attributes for each of these components: Availability, Usability, Learning effectiveness, Performance, Security, Potential for change. The factors for any QAS are : Organization and resources; Students and their support; Teaching and learning; Curriculum; Funding; Research; Management and quality control policies. And it's stakeholders are : Government, Employers, Students, Academic and Administrative Staff, Institutional Managers, Prospective Students and their Parents and Taxpayers
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Mahmoud Kandel Obtained his B. Sc. 1961, in Power and Electric Machines "Very
Good". Faculty of engineering, Alexandria University, Egypt. M. Sc. 1964, Faculty of Science, Manchester University, England . Entitled " Digital analysis of the stability of the multi-machine power systems".
Ph. D. 1967 , Institute for Science and Technology, Manchester, England Entitled "Discriminative Performance of Impedance Measuring Protection " . He worked as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University, 1994- 1997. Executive director of the Center for quality assurance and certification, University of Mansoura, 2005-2008. Adviser to the President of the University for strategic planning and accreditation 2008-now.
Ahmed Hasan Ph. D. in Computer Engineering, December 2004 Department of
Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, West Virginia University, USA. Dissertation Title: Architectural Level Software Risk Assessment.
Master of Engineering in Computer Engineering, December 2000, Department of Electrical and computer Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ, USA. M. Sc. Electrical Engineering in “Artificial Intelligence Applications in power Systems”, August 1992, Department of Electrical Eng., Faculty of Engineering, Elmansoure University, Egypt.
Thesis Title: Expert System and Artificial Data Base for Protection of Transmission System of Power System.
B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering (Power System): Electrical Power System Department, Faculty of Engineering, Menofia University, Egypt
Aziza Kasem PhD - Philosophy in Engineering - College of Engineering - Alexandria
University - 1996 Diploma in particular - in education - the College of Education Mansoura - University -
1988
Diploma in General - in education - the College of Education - Mansoura University - 1984
M.Sc. - in Engineering -University of Nottingham, England - 1981 Bachelor - Engineering (ONE ( Higher Institute of industrial Mansoura University – 1973.
-Mohamed El-hoseny Obtained his B. Sc. 2006 in Information systems "Excellent".
Faculty of Computer Sciences and Information Systems, Mansoura University, Egypt. Premaster in Information systems 2007, Faculty of Computer Sciences and Information System, Mansoura University, Egypt.
