Solving the Examination Timetabling Problem Using a Two-Phase Heuristic: The case of Sokoine University of Agriculture

Abstract

Examination timetabling is an important operational problem in any academic institution. The problem involves assigning examinations and candidates to time periods and examination rooms while satisfying a set of specific constraints. An increased number of student enrolments, a wider variety of courses, and the growing flexibility of students\u2019 curricula have contributed to the growing challenge in preparing examination timetables. Since examination timetabling problems differ from one institution to another, in this paper we develop and investigate the impact of a two-phase heuristic that combines Graph-Colouring and Simulated Annealing at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Tanzania. Computational results are presented which shows great improvement over the previous work on the same problem.