UML crisis! An educational perspective

Context: Unified Modelling Language (UML) is not only a standard modelling language in the software industry but also the “lingua franca” of software engineering education. However, teaching and learning UML have been both identified as difficult tasks. Aim: This study aims to have a practical and deep understanding of what causes the difficulties in UML education (in addition to the known complexity of UML), and cor- respondingly to propose actionable mitigation strategies. Method: we conducted critical reflection on our educational activities, teaching materials, and students’ learning effects in a software engineering conversion programme, followed by consulting ex- ternal UML experts. Results: We observed and demonstrated a vicious cycle of the UML crisis in education, which in turn drove us to preliminarily propose a set of potential tactics for breaking the vicious cycle and addressing the UML crisis. Conclusions: Practitioners’ lack of good UML knowledge and skills could have been out of educators’ control. Breaking the vicious cycle of the UML crisis in education requires collaborative efforts across the whole community.