Information Systems International Conference (ISICO), 2 – 4 December 2013
Copyright © 2013 ISICO
Analysis of Automated Scheduling System Case Study Oral
Final Study Examination in Swiss German University
James Purnama, Julius Polar, Maulahikmah Galinium
James Purnama, Julius Polar, Maulahikmah Galinium
Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
Swiss German University, Indonesia
Keywords:
Timetable
Examination timetabling
Heuristic Algorithm
Automated timetabling
ABSTRACT
Timetabling is a complex and often difficult task. Considering the large
number of students, availability of lecturers and rooms, scheduling a feasible
schedule without mistakes is not an easy task. Some universities are still
using the manual paper based scheduling. A computer based timetabling
system can greatly help the creation and management of university
timetabling. This paper analyzed the problem of Oral Final Study
Examination in Swiss German University, and proposed a computer based
solution using a heuristic method for an automated scheduling system.
Copyright © 2013 Information Systems International Conference.
All rights reserved.
Corresponding Author:
James Purnama,
Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology,
Swiss German University,
EduTown BSD City, Tangerang, Indonesia.
Email: james.purnama[at]sgu.ac.id
1. INTRODUCTION
Timetable is a chart, commonly displayed in table format, which shows one's schedule. Timetabling
is a widely studied topic, which includes the schedule of public transportations, task assignments, and self-
management. It is one of the most important aspects of time management. Every educational institute has a
timetable for lectures and examinations. Creating a timetable is not a simple matter. One has to take into
account the amount of students, the number of rooms available for the lecture, and of course, the availability
of each lecturer. One also has to make sure that there are no conflicting schedules, such as a lecturer teaching
in multiple lectures at the same time. Managing a timetable is sometimes harder than making one. To move a
schedule, one has to look for an available room, at a time when the students and lecturers are available, which
is sometimes troublesome on a hectic timetable. To make matters worse, timetables are sometimes created
and managed manually, without the aid of a computer system, which requires demands resources and is
prone to human error.
Some universities have implemented a computer based timetable management systems [1]. These
systems are capable of generating a feasible timetable, as well as providing means to manage the timetable.
The Swiss German University (SGU) examination office (EXO) is responsible for managing and moderating
timetables for examinations, including Oral Final Study Examination (OFSE). The creation of each faculty's
OFSE schedule is given to each faculty's administration officer (FAO). Every FAO still uses the manual,
human based method of timetabling. A computer based system would help the Examination Office to create a
feasible timetable efficiently, manage timetable accurately, and do so with less time and resources.
The purpose of this research is to address the problems with SGU's current system for OFSE
scheduling process, as well as analyzing and designing a computer based solution to improve the timetabling
of OFSE. This research will test the usability of heuristic based approach of solving the timetabling problem.
This research significantly contributes to SGU to improve the overall effectiveness of OFSE scheduling
process, to reduce amount of necessary human resources, and to reduce number of mistakes in the process of
creating and managing OFSE schedule.
The most difficult part of the timetable process is assigning students to the timetables. One must be
careful not to assign a student to two examinations in the same day. This might not be a difficult problem