Multi-criteria curriculum-based course timetabling - A comparison of a weighted sum and a reference point based approach

Abstract

The article presents a solution approach for a curriculum-based timetabling problem, a complex planning problem found in many universities. With regard to the true nature of the problem, we treat it as multiobjective optimization problem, trying to balance several aspects that simultaneous have to be taken into consideration. A solution framework based on local search heuristics is presented, allowing the planner to identify compromise solutions. Two different aggregation techniques are used and studied. First, a weighted sum aggregation, and second, a reference point based approach. Experimental investigations are carried out for benchmark instances taken from track 3 of the International Timetabling Competition ITC 2007. After having been invited to the finals of the competition, held in August 2008 in Montréal, and thus ranking among the best five approaches world-wide, we here extend our work towards the use of reference points. © Springer-Verlag 2009.