Considering Section Balance in an Integer Optimization Model for the Curriculum-Based Course Timetabling Problem

Cristian D. Palma and Patrick Bornhardt
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Cristian D. Palma: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Desarrollo, Concepción 4040418, Chile
Patrick Bornhardt: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Desarrollo, Concepción 4040418, Chile

Mathematics, 2020, vol. 8, issue 10, 1-12

Abstract: University course timetabling is a complex and time-consuming duty that every educational institution faces regularly. It consists of scheduling a set of lectures in predefined time slots so as to avoid student conflicts, meet teacher and room availability, and manage several institution-specific operational rules. In this paper, we schedule courses based on a curriculum, that is, before the students’ registration. Unlike other curriculum-based models, the proposed model considers two practical aspects when managing the conflicts between lectures: (i) it schedules sections of subjects so that each section is evenly likely to be registered by the students, and (ii) it considers the failure rates and periodicity a subject is taught. We present a multi-objective integer programming model that maximizes the use of specific time slots, the symmetry in which the lectures of a course are scheduled during a week, and the flexibility for straggler students to take courses. The model is solved using commercial software, and it is applied to a real course-timetabling problem. We show the advantages of its use by comparing the model’s solution with the actual solution obtained by the manual scheduling.

Keywords: course timetabling; integer programing; balanced scheduling; curriculum-based timetabling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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