Development of an interactive tool based on combining graph heuristic with local search for examination timetable problem

Abstract

Every university faces a lot of challenges to solve the examination timetabling problem because the problem is NPhard and contains numerous institutional constraints. Although several attempts have been taken to address the issue, there are scarcities of interactive and automated tools in this domain that can schedule exams effectively by considering institutional resources, different constraints, and student enrolment in courses. This paper presents the development of a system as a graphical and interactive tool for examination timetabling problem. To develop the system, combining graph coloring heuristic and local search meta-heuristic algorithms are employed. The graph heuristic ordering is incorporated for constructing initial solution(s), whereas the local search meta-heuristic algorithms are used to produce quality exam timetables. Different constraints and objective functions from ITC2007 exam competition rules are adopted, as it is a complex real word exam timetabling problem. Finally, the system is tested on the ITC2007 exam benchmark dataset, and test results are presented. The main aspect of the system is to deliver an easy-to-handle tool that can generate quality timetables based on institutional demands and smoothly manage several key components. These components are collecting data associated with the enrolment of students in exams, defining hard and soft constraints, and allocating times and resources. Overall, this software can be used as a commercial scheduler in order to provide institutions with automated, accurate, and quick exam timetable.