Class Schedule Simulation Report
Room Assignment is the traditional way the University has been scheduling until 2008/2009 where the times for course sections were fixed and the rooms were assigned by the central class scheduling office of Enrolment Services (ES).
This simulation is a timetabling simulation (simulation 2) where the scheduled times and rooms have been assigned by the TPHi software based on the data provided by the departments.
Room assignment is a subset of the timetabling simulation data. There are faculties such as Law, Music, Physical and Occupational Therapy and Desautel Faculty of Management that have been included for the first time in the timetabling simulation. Simulation has been done on data from the following faculties: Arts, Arts and Science, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Law, Management, Music, Nursing, Physical and Occupational Therapy, Religious Studies, and Science
We have tried to compare room assignment and timetabling simulation results using the data for the week of September 22nd 2008 between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
A - Course Distribution Report
This report displays the “Sum of Scheduled Deliveries” for different “Days of Week/Start Times”.
Result 1: Room Assignment
Observations:
· TR (Tuesday-Thursday) peaks are more evident
· Not as many classes scheduled on MWF (Monday-Wednesday-Friday)
· Very few sections are scheduled on Friday
Result 2: Timetabling Simulation (Dataset similar to Room Assignment)
Observations:
· More equal distribution throughout the week
· Friday still not properly used. The reason is due to unavailability of Instructors and some courses not being offered on Friday.
· 9:30 peaks are evident due to the unavailability of Instructors in the morning hours between 8:30 and 9:30 am.
Result 3: Timetabling Simulation (all Faculties and Schools except for Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry and Centre for Continuing Education)
Observations:
· Similar to the observations under Result 2 except that more course sections are being scheduled by the software as it includes all faculties except the Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry and Centre for Continuing Education.
B – Room Utilization Report
The room utilization report shows in percentage the number of rooms used by period i.e. specific time range. (e.g. 08:30 – 09:30 etc.).
Results below are from different data sets and while reviewing the following may be kept in mind:
- Number of course sections scheduled may different as Room Assignment for Fall 2008 did not have data for Law, Music, Physical and Occupational Therapy and Desautel Faculty of Management . The results show more equal distribution of the rooms (the new patterns introduced could have helped in the equal room distribution)
- The results are being compared to Fall 2007 data as it will include the graduate courses and a lot of conferences that are scheduled in September.
- Room utilization is not at a higher percentage due to the fact that at this time of year, not all course sections are scheduled. Some graduate courses and a lot of conferences are not scheduled until September otherwise the room usage would be more
- In Room Assignment, both classrooms and department rooms were classified as Room type C but in the simulation, we have split the classrooms between regular classrooms and classrooms that were departmental rooms. Also, in Room Assignment Class Scheduling Office did not schedule the Departmental rooms.
Result 1: Room Assignment – Fall 2008
· Number of Classrooms – Room Type C – 111
· Departmental Rooms – None
· Labs - None
Observations:
· Classrooms not being effectively used from 8:30 to 9:30
Result 2: Scheduled data – Fall 2007
· Number of Classrooms and Departmental Rooms – Room Type C – 293
Result 3: Timetabling Simulation – Fall 2008
· Number of Classrooms - Room Type C - 128
· Departmental Rooms – Room Type DEPT – 169
· Labs – 117
Observations:
· Rooms are more evenly utilized
· More labs are scheduled by ES
· Departmental rooms are now scheduled by the TPHi software.