Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

A new model for automated examination timetabling

  • Published:
Annals of Operations Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Automated examination timetabling has been addressed by a wide variety of methodologies and techniques over the last ten years or so. Many of the methods in this broad range of approaches have been evaluated on a collection of benchmark instances provided at the University of Toronto in 1996. Whilst the existence of these datasets has provided an invaluable resource for research into examination timetabling, the instances have significant limitations in terms of their relevance to real-world examination timetabling in modern universities. This paper presents a detailed model which draws upon experiences of implementing examination timetabling systems in universities in Europe, Australasia and America.

This model represents the problem that was presented in the 2nd International Timetabling Competition (ITC2007). In presenting this detailed new model, this paper describes the examination timetabling track introduced as part of the competition. In addition to the model, the datasets used in the competition are also based on current real-world instances introduced by EventMAP Limited. It is hoped that the interest generated as part of the competition will lead to the development, investigation and application of a host of novel and exciting techniques to address this important real-world search domain. Moreover, the motivating goal of this paper is to close the currently existing gap between theory and practice in examination timetabling by presenting the research community with a rigorous model which represents the complexity of the real-world situation. In this paper we describe the model and its motivations, followed by a full formal definition.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahmadi, S., Barone, R., Cheng, P., Cowling, P., & McCollum, B. (2003). Perturbation based variable neighbourhood search in heuristic space for examination timetabling problem. In Proceedings of multidisciplinary international scheduling: theory and applications (MISTA 2003) (pp. 155–171). Nottingham, August 13–16. ISBN: 0-9545821-2-8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Yakoob, S., Sherali, H., & Al-Jazzaf, M. (2010). A mixed-integer mathematical modeling approach to exam timetabling. Computational Management Science, 7, 19–46. doi:10.1007/s10287-007-0066-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asmuni, H., Burke, E. K., Garibaldi, J. M., & McCollum, B. (2006). A novel fuzzy approach to evaluate the quality of examination timetabling. In Proceedings of the 6th international conference on the practice and theory of automated timetabling (PATAT 2006) (pp. 82–102). Brno, Czech Republic, August 30th–September 1st 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atsuta, M., Nonobe, K., & Ibaraki, T. (2008). ITC-2007 track2: an approach using general CSP solver. Available from the ITC-2007 website. http://www.cs.qub.ac.uk/itc2007/winner/bestcoursesolutions/Atsuta_et_al.pdf.

  • Azimi, Z. N. (2005). Hybrid heuristics for examination timetabling problem. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 163(2), 705–733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borning, A., Duisberg, R., Freeman-Benson, B., Kramer, A., & Woolf, M. (1987). Constraint hierarchies. In N. Meyrowitz (Ed.), Proceedings of the conference on object-oriented programming systems, languages, and applications (OOPSLA) (Vol. 22, pp. 48–60). New York: ACM.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Borning, A., Freeman-Benson, B., & Wilson, M. (1992). Constraint hierarchies. LISP and Symbolic Computation, 5, 223–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, E. K., & Newall, J. (2004). Solving examination timetabling problems through adaptation of heuristic orderings. Annals of Operations Research, 129, 107–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, E. K., Newall, J., & Weare, R. F. (1996). A memetic algorithm for university exam timetabling. In E. K. Burke & P. Ross (Eds.), Lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 1153. The practice and theory of automated timetabling (pp. 241–250). Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, E. K., Petrovic, S., & Qu, R. (2002). Case-based heuristic selection for examination timetabling. In Proceedings of the 4th Asia-Pacific conference on simulated evolution and learning (SEAL 2002) (pp. 277–281). Singapore, Nov 18–22 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, E. K., Hart, E., Kendall, G., Newall, J., Ross, P., & Schulenburg, S. (2003). Hyper-heuristics: an emerging direction in modern search technology. In Handbook of meta-heuristics (pp. 457–474). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, E. K., Bykov, Y., Newall, J., & Petrovic, S. (2004). A time-predefined local search approach to exam timetabling problems. IIE Transactions, 36, 509–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, E. K., Dror, M., Petrovic, S., & Qu, R. (2005). Hybrid graph heuristics within a hyper-heuristic approach to exam timetabling problems. In The next wave in computing, optimization, and decision technologies (pp. 79–91). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, E. K., Petrovic, S., & Qu, R. (2006). Case based heuristic selection for timetabling problems. Journal of Scheduling, 9(2), 115–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, E. K., McCollum, B., Meisels, A., Petrovic, S., & Qu, R. (2007). A graph-based hyper-heuristic for educational timetabling problems. European Journal of Operational Research, 176, 177–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, E. K., McCollum, B., McMullan, P., & Parkes, A. J. (2008). Multi-objective aspects of the examination timetabling competition track. In Proceedings of PATAT 2008. Montreal, Canada, August 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, E. K., Eckersley, A. J., McCollum, B., Petrovic, S., & Qu, R. (2010). Hybrid variable neighbourhood approaches to university exam timetabling. European Journal of Operational Research, 206, 46–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callennec, B. L., & Boulic, R. (2004). Interactive motion deformation with prioritized constraints. In Proceedings of the 2004 ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics symposium on computer animation, SCA’04 (pp. 163–171). Aire-la-Ville, Switzerland, Switzerland. Aire-la-Ville: Eurographics Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, M. W., Laporte, G., & Lee, S. Y. (1996). Examination timetabling: algorithmic strategies and applications. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, 47(3), 373–383.

    Google Scholar 

  • David, P. (1998). A constraint-based approach for examination timetabling using local repair techniques. In E. K. Burke & M. W. Carter (Eds.), Springer lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 1408. Practice and theory of automated timetabling: selected papers from the 2nd international conference (pp. 169–186).

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • de Werra, D., Asratian, A. S., & Durand, S. (2002). Complexity of some special types of timetabling problems. Journal of Scheduling, 5, 171–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Gaspero, L. (2002). Recolour, shake and kick: a recipe for the examination timetabling problem. In E. K. Burke & P. D. Causmaecker (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th international conference on the practice and theory of automated timetabling. KaHo St.-Lieven, Gent, Belgium (pp. 404–407).

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Gaspero, L., & Schaerf, A. (2001). Tabu search techniques for examination timetabling. In E. K. Burke & W. Erben (Eds.), Lecture notes in computer science (LNCS): Vol. 2079. Practice and theory of automated timetabling: selected papers from the 3rd international conference (pp. 104–117).

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Di Gaspero, L., McCollum, B., & Schaerf, A. (2007). The second international timetabling competition (ITC-2007): curriculum-based course timetabling (track 3) (Tech. Rep. QUB/IEEE/Tech/ITC2007/CurriculumCTT/v1.0/1) August 2007, Queen’s University Belfast. http://www.cs.qub.ac.uk/itc2007/.

  • Dowsland, K. A., & Thompson, J. (2005). Ant colony optimization for the examination scheduling problem. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, 56(4), 426–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubois, D., Fargier, H., & Prade, H. (1996). Possibility theory in constraint satisfaction problems: handling priority, preference and uncertainty. Applied Intelligence, 6, 287–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duong, T. A., & Lam, K. H. (2004). Combining constraint programming and simulated annealing on university exam timetabling. In Proceedings of the 2nd international conference in computer sciences, research, innovation & vision for the future (RIVF2004) (pp. 205–210). Hanoi, Vietnam, February 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gogos, C., Alefragis, P., & Housos, E. (2010). An improved multi-staged algorithmic process for the solution of the examination timetabling problem. Annals of Operations Research. doi:10.1007/s10479-010-0712-3

  • Henz, M., Yap, R. H. C., Lim, Y. F., Lua, S. C., Walser, J. P., & Shi, X. P. (2004). Solving hierarchical constraints over finite domains with local search. Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence, 40, 283–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, R., Paechter, B., & McCollum, B. (2007). Post enrolment based course timetabling: a description of the problem model used for track two of the second international timetabling competition (Cardiff Working Papers in Accounting and Finance A2007-3), Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, August 2007.

  • McCollum, B. (2007). A perspective on bridging the gap between theory and practice in university timetabling. In Lecture notes in computer science (LNCS): Vol. 3867. Revised selected papers of PATAT 2006, Proceedings of the 6th international conference on the practice and theory of automated timetabling (pp. 3–23).

    Google Scholar 

  • McCollum, B., McMullan, P., Burke, E. K., Parkes, A. J., & Qu, R. (2007). The second international timetabling competition: examination timetabling track (Tech. Rep. QUB/IEEE/Tech/ITC2007/Exam/v4.0/17.2007), Queen’s University Belfast. http://www.cs.qub.ac.uk/itc2007/.

  • McCollum, B., Schaerf, A., Paechter, B., McMullan, P., Lewis, R., Parkes, A. J., Gaspero, L. D., Qu, R., & Burke, E. K. (2010). Setting the research agenda in automated timetabling: the second international timetabling competition. INFORMS Journal on Computing, 22(1), 120–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merlot, L. T. G., Boland, N., Hughes, B. D., & Stuckey, P. J. (2003). A hybrid algorithm for the examination timetabling problem. In Springer lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 2740. Practice and theory of automated timetabling: selected papers from the 4th international conference (pp. 207–231).

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Meseguer, P., Bouhmala, N., Bouzoubaa, T., Irgens, M., & Sánchez, M. (2003). Current approaches for solving over-constrained problems. Constraints, 8, 9–39. doi:10.1023/A:1021902812784.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metaheuristics Network, International timetable competition 2002 (2003). http://www.idsia.ch/Files/ttcomp2002/. Organised by the metaheuristics network, http://www.metaheuristics.net/ and PATAT 2002 http://www.asap.cs.nott.ac.uk/patat/patat02/patat02.shtml. Accessed April 2008.

  • Müller, T. (2009). ITC2007 solver description: a hybrid approach. Annals of Operations Research, 172, 429–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mumford, C. L. (2007). An order based evolutionary approach to dual objective examination timetabling. In Proceedings of the 2007 IEEE symposium on computational intelligence in scheduling (CI-Sched 2007), Honolulu, Hawaii, 1–5th April.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paquete, L., & Stützle, T. (2002). Empirical analysis of tabu search for the lexicographic optimization of the examination timetabling problem. In E. Burke & P. D. Causmaecker (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th international conference on practice and theory of automated timetabling.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parkes, A. J., & Özcan, E. (2010). Properties of Yeditepe examination timetabling benchmark instances. In Proc. of the 8th international conference on the practice and theory of automated timetabling (PATAT 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pillay, N. (2008). A developmental approach to the examination timetabling problem. http://www.cs.qub.ac.uk/itc2007/winner/bestexamsolutions/pillay.pdf.

  • Qu, R., Burke, E. K., McCollum, B., Merlot, L., & Lee, S. (2009). A survey of search methodologies and automated system development for examination timetabling. Journal of Scheduling, 12(1), 55–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, P., Corne, D., & Terashima-Marín, H. (1996). The phase transition niche for evolutionary algorithms in timetabling. In E. K. Burke & M. A. Trick (Eds.), Lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 1153. Selected papers from the first international conference on the theory and practice of automated timetabling (PATAT 95) (pp. 309–324). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, P., Marin-Blazquez, J., & Hart, E. (2004). Hyper-heuristics applied to class and exam timetabling problems. In Proceedings of the 2004 congress on evolutionary computation (CEC2004) (pp. 1691–1698).

    Google Scholar 

  • Smet, G. D. (2008). ITC 2007—examination track. Available from the ITC-2007 website. http://www.cs.qub.ac.uk/itc2007/.

  • Thompson, J., & Dowsland, K. (1998). A robust simulated annealing based examination timetabling system. Computers & Operations Research, 25, 637–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsang, E., Mills, P., & Williams, R. (1999). A computer aided constraint programming system. In The 1st international conference on the practical application of constraint technologies and logic programming (PACLP) (pp. 81–93).

    Google Scholar 

  • van Loon, J. N. M. (1981). Irreducibly inconsistent systems of linear inequalities. European Journal of Operational Research, 8(3), 283–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, G. M., & Xie, B. S. (2001). Examination timetables and tabu search with longer-term memory. In E. K. Burke & W. Erben (Eds.), Practice and theory of automated timetabling: selected papers from the 3rd international conference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, T., Cote, P., & Gely, P. (2002). Final exam timetabling: a practical approach. In IEEE Canadian conference on electrical and computer engineering (CCECE 2002) (Vol. 2, pp. 726–731).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science, Queen’s University Belfast, University Road, Belfast, N. Ireland, BT7 1NN, UK

    Barry McCollum & Paul McMullan

  2. School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus, Nottingham, NG8 1BB, UK

    Andrew J. Parkes, Edmund K. Burke & Rong Qu

Authors
  1. Barry McCollum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paul McMullan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrew J. Parkes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Edmund K. Burke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Rong Qu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew J. Parkes.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McCollum, B., McMullan, P., Parkes, A.J. et al. A new model for automated examination timetabling. Ann Oper Res 194, 291–315 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-011-0997-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-011-0997-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation