Final Year Project Proposal (228.

485, 2011)

Title: Design and implementation of a web based University lectures and exams timetable
generating system for offered courses (case study: Department of computer science
Hezekiah university).

Supervisor: Dr Eva Heinrich

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The need to automate the manual process of lecture time tabling system in higher
institution of learning cannot be set aside. Despite the fact that several other
administrative sectors of most institution have been automated, lecture time-tabling is
still done manually because of its inherent problems. Planning lecture and exam time
table is an administrative responsibility that demands enormous attention and effort
from any institution because of its constraint satisfaction problem. The department of
computer science Hezekiah university the case study in this research operates a
central time tabling system implemented by a set up committee members within the
institution, which makes it more difficult in getting a flawless lecture scheduling.
This manual time-tabling system used in the institution is time consuming and energy
sapping which leads to loss of information, general apathy, clashes and wastage of
resources. This project is targeted at ameliorating the above stated challenges. The
main aim of the study is to develop an automated lecture time-tabling system to
provide convenience in scheduling lecture and exam time-table, reducing time
constraints in fixing the courses and venues and reducing the risk of omission of
courses and clashes of halls and lecturers. The scope of work is limited to space
allocation for lectures and merging of similar courses for a particular lecturer. the new
system (automated time tabling system) will be the best method in tackling the lapses
experienced by the old system (manual time table).
AIM AND OBJECTIVES
The literature on implementation of educational timetabling problem is scattered, vast and
far-fetched. Different research papers that have been brought out on timetable may refer to
the same type of institution but they mostly deal with different kinds of assignments, i.e.
decisions like timing of events, sectioning of students into groups, or assigning events to
locations.
Moreover, each institution has its own characteristics which are reflected in the problem
definition. Yet, there have been no leveling ground for developing a system that can work for
most of these institutions.
The aim of this work is to generate a timetable while demonstrating the possibility of
building the schedules automatically through the use of computers in a way that they are
optimal and complete with little or no redundancy.

The objectives of this work are as follows

 To be able to optimize the algorithm used in today’s timetable systems to generate the
best of timetabling data with no clashes.
 To develop a timetable system that supports flexibility for update, ease of access and
readily availability.
 To bring approved timetable that is easily available anytime to users via web.

METHODOLOGY
The algorithm considered for use in the proposed system is a scaled down version of the
Hybrid Genetic algorithm for the construction of examination timetables developed for the
University of Nottingham. The concept though developed for examination timetabling, can
be adapted to fit the construction of course timetables. The genetic algorithm employed
combines two heuristic algorithms, the first finding a non-conflicting set of exams and the
second assigning the selected exam to rooms. The process is repeated until all exams have
been scheduled without conflicts. The system will be implemented using HTML, jQuery and
Bootstrap framework for the frontend to ensure multiple device support and responsiveness
while maintaining the required user experience, PHP and MySQL for the secured backend
data storage and retrieval.
POSSIBLE PROJECT STEPS
The following are likely project steps.
Introduction:
What a timetable system is, its functions and limitations.
Literature review:
Manual versus electronically supported time-tabling;
Possible implementation algorithms
Methodology and Design:
Chosen design method,
System flow charts,uml diagrams etc.
Implementation and results analysis:
development of the system using design concepts,
Instruction on the system installation and usage.