A COURSE TIMETABLING FORMULATION UNDER PANDEMIC CONSIDERATIONS

Abstract

The covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected the education sector and raised the new operational challenges that spring from the necessity of planning courses in a way to ensure community safety. Accordingly, many higher education institutions provide guidelines regarding the measures to be implemented in education operations. As such, timetabling of the courses is required to be carried out in line with these guidelines. To address this need, this study introduces a multi-objective mathematical model for a university course timetabling problem under the pandemic-related considerations. In particular, the proposed mathematical model aims to minimize the total number of online courses and sections while considering the balanced distribution of the courses over time slots and days. We test the effectiveness of the proposed model using real-life data. The results show that the proposed approach is able to create an optimal timetable in a reasonable time that addresses the objectives of the faculty administration and satisfies the pandemic-related requirements. The study contributes to the literature by introducing new pandemic constraints and inspires managers facing pandemic guidelines.

Keywords

• University Course Timetabling
• Pandemic
• Hybrid Education
• Multi-Objective Mathematical Model

PANDEMİ KOŞULLARI ALTINDA DERS ÇİZELGEMESİ FORMÜLASYONU

Abstract

Covid-19 pandemisi eğitim sektörünü önemli ölçüde etkilemiş ve derslerin toplum güvenliğini sağlayacak şekilde planlanması gerekliliğinden kaynaklanan yeni operasyonel zorlukları gündeme getirmiştir. Bu sebeple, birçok yükseköğretim kurumu, eğitim faaliyetlerinde uygulanacak önlemlere ilişkin rehberler sunmaktadır ve ders programlarının, bu rehberler göz önüne alınarak hazırlanması gerekmektedir. Bu ihtiyacı karşılamak için bu çalışmada, pandemi ile ilgili endişeleri kapsayan bir üniversite ders çizelgeleme problemi için çok amaçlı bir matematiksel model sunulmaktadır. Önerilen matematiksel model ile çevrimiçi olarak sunulması planlanan derslerin ve kapasite kısıtı sebebiyle oluşturulan şubelerin sayısı, mevcut dersleri günler ve ders saatlerine mümkün mertebe dengeli dağıtma hedefini de göz önüne alarak en düşük düzeye indirgemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Önerilen modelin etkinliği gerçek yaşam verileri kullanılarak test edilmektedir. Sonuçlar, önerilen yaklaşımın fakülte yönetiminin hedeflerine hitap eden ve pandemi ile ilgili gereksinimleri karşılayan optimal bir zaman çizelgesini makul bir sürede oluşturabildiğini göstermektedir. Çalışma pandemiyle ilgili yeni kısıtları tanıtarak literatüre katkı sağlamakta ve pandemi rehberleriyle yüzleşen yöneticilere ilham kaynağı olmaktadır.

Keywords

• Üniversite Ders Çizelgeleme
• Pandemi
• Hibrit Eğitim
• Çok Amaçlı Matematiksel Model

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