Malaysian Journal of Mathematical Sciences, March 2016, Vol. 10(S)
Special Issue: The 10th IMT-GT International Conference on Mathematics, Statistics and its Applications 2014 (ICMSA 2014)
A Survey on the Timetabling Communities' Demands for an Effective Examination Timetabling in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
Nur Aidya Hanum Aizam, Nurul Farahin Jamaluddin and Sabri Ahmad
Corresponding Email: aidya@umt.edu.my
Received date: -
Accepted date: -
Abstract:
In education sector, there are many branches of problems involving timetabling. The examination timetabling problem is one of the many problems that exist for a very long time. This problem is faced by all educational institutions every end of the semester. As far as we are concern, there is no single model that can solve this problem up to the satisfaction of the users due to the many challenging factors that need to be considered. In solving this problem, not only we should consider the 'must' constraints, but also be aware of the requirements of the timetabling communities since they involves directly with the resulted timetable. Therefore, to produce the best examination timetable, it is important that we consider the human factor such as demands from the timetabling communities' (students and lecturers). This paper discusses the preferences of the timetabling communities at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu regarding the timetable especially their perspective on the time, date, place and period of the examination, also the effectiveness of existing timetables. A survey was conducted to study the demands of students and lecturers regarding their preferred schedule. Cronbach's alpha and factor analysis tests was conducted with the purpose to check the reliability and identifying the factors of the question. From the results obtained, problem related to the current timetable was detected. The students and lecturers preferences gained from this study can be included as constraints in the modelling of an effective timetable. These constraints are crucial to be considered in developing a quality timetable which does not only fulfil the requirements of a university, but also the demands from the timetabling communities. Additionally, the criteria of a good timetable are also listed in the paper.
Keywords: Examination Timetabling, Timetabling Problem, Factor Analysis, Survey
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