1. What is the objective of exam timetable scheduling?
The objective of exam timetable scheduling is to minimize the cost of running the exam while satisfying logistics constraints. The cost is considered as the total number of allocated exam rooms. Logistics constraints capture available resources (rooms and invigilators) and university requirements, such as the maximum number of exams a student can perform in a day. These requirements and resources vary significantly between universities, impacting the complexity of the problem. Scheduling approaches must consider the constraints imposed by the targeted university. The objective is to create a conflict-free schedule that satisfies all imposed constraints.
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2. What searching-based solutions have investigated the exam scheduling problem?
Several searching-based solutions have investigated the exam scheduling problem, including simulated annealing [5], genetic algorithms [10], Tabu search [7], and evolution-based methods [8]. These approaches utilize different algorithms and techniques to optimize the scheduling process and minimize conflicts between exams. Each solution aims to improve the quality and efficiency of the obtained schedule while considering various constraints and requirements of the university's resources and exam rooms.
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3. How can the exam scheduling problem be represented?
The exam scheduling problem can be represented as a directed acyclic graph (DAG), denoted as = (, ). Set = { } represents the courses (C) and students (S) registered in these courses. Each course is associated with two variables: the number of students registered (sn) and the exam delivery nature (en), which can be either paper-based () or computerized (o). Set E captures the courses registered by each student, where for each direct edge ( ' , ), vertex ' and set . Additionally, set = { 1 , 2 , 3 , ... ., } represents the available exam time slots. Each time slot ( ) is associated with an exam room number and day ( ). Each time slot has a period [: ] that represents the start and end time. Each exam room has a capacity (M) that refers to the maximum number of students who can use the exam room at any given time. In the presented problem, the objective is to determine the courses' exams schedule to minimize operational costs, which is the number of used rooms. The obtained schedule must satisfy the following constraints: i) each source must be assigned to a single time slot, ii) for any given day, the number of assigned exams to a single student must be at most two, and iii) computerized exams should be conducted in computer laboratories.
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4. How is the grouping step conducted?
The grouping step involves dividing students into groups based on course registration and synchronized courses. It starts by retrieving the most recent course catalog, displaying updated course names and numbers. Then, a group is constructed for each course, including all students registered in the course and its synchronized courses. To identify synchronized courses, the list of available sections for a course is determined, along with instructor identification number (IID), section time (SI), and location (SL). This information helps identify all synchronized courses for a given course. The result is a set of groups, with each student belonging to the number of groups equal to the total number of courses registered in the current active semester.
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