A Web Deployed Multi-Agent Based Approach for Student-Lecturer Appointment Scheduling in Institutions of Higher Learning

Abstract

Institutions of higher learning such as universities have been positively influenced by the internet which has facilitated learning and teaching. Likewise, this same internet can also support student lecturer appointments, but currently students and lecturers are faced with issues such as finding free timeslot, difficulty of students to meet supervisor and issues related to managing appointment operations. Therefore, this paper develops a multi-agent architecture and a web-based agent appointment scheduling system to support students and lecturers in managing appointment scheduling in universities. The agent-based appointment scheduling system was implemented as a web system integrated by multi-agents to facilitate students in finding available timeslot, resolving difficulty of students to meet supervisor and addressing difficult of managing scheduled appointment records by lecturers. The usefulness of the agent-based appointment scheduling system was evaluated by collecting data using questionnaire from randomly selected respondents. Furthermore, Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) was employed to analyse the questionnaire data using descriptive and exploratory factor analysis. Findings from the survey reveal that the developed agent-based appointment scheduling system practically supports students and lecturers in scheduling appointments.