A linear mixed-integer model for realistic examination timetabling problems

Start Page
82
End Page
101
Citation
PATAT 2014 - Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling, 26 - 29 August 2014, York, United Kingdom / edited by Ender Özcan, Edmund K. Burke, Barry McCollum. - [S. l.] : PATAT, 2010. - Seite 82-101
Contribution to Conference
10th International Conference of the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling, 2014 York, UK 
Publisher Link
http://www.patatconference.org/patat2014/proceedings.html
Publisher
PATAT
An examination timetable has to satisfy a vast variety of requirements to be not only feasible, but also to be convenient to all parties involved. Many different aspects, as e. g. spreading of exams for students’ convenience or fixing exams to certain days or rooms for teachers’ convenience, have been discussed in the literature. However, there are no model formulations which take all aspects relevant for this work into account. Therefore, in this work a new linear mixed-integer programming model for the exam timetabling problem is presented. The model uses a penalty-based goal programming approach to assure the construction of timetables which fulfill important requirements made by teachers, students and administrators. Based on this model, feasible solutions are derived by a standard solver and subsequently are further improved by a tabu-search procedure. The trade-off between different criteria is shown and some very promising results of the approach for a real-world data set are presented.
Schlagworte
Examination timetabling
Linear programming
Mixed-integer programming
University timetabling
DDC Class
004: Informatik
330: Wirtschaft
380: Handel, Kommunikation, Verkehr