Designing State Machine Diagram to Model a Software System

Overview

Goals

To make students learn how to design state machine diagram of UML based on real life scenario system.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the activity, the student will 1.Know how to capture states from a system 2.Able to design the states of a system using UML state machine diagram

Context

In software development, the dynamic system behaviours are critical to capture by software analyst to understand all the possibilities of how the system will behave in certain circumstances or states. UML state machine diagram is a dynamic model that shows the different states that a single class passes through during its life in response to events. The single class must be quite dynamic that it passes through a variety of states over the course of its existence. By using Problem-Oriented Problem-Based Learning (POPBL) method of active learning, the activity starts by the instructor giving out five (5) different existing real life system software for students to choose and conduct the activity in group. The instructor will kick-start the activity by asking a question regarding the topic and explain to the students the objectives of the activity, the input, output, and actions to conduct the activity, and the forms to fill in. The students have to run and use the system software to have full understand on how the system software behaves in real time. Then, they have to pick two (2) main classes of the system software, which categorized under people/external system object and interface object. They have to consider all the alternative events that might happen to capture the alternative behaviour of the particular objects they have picked. The activity ends by students present the state machine diagram while running the system software to check consistency of the design. This activity will be conducted within 60 minutes.