Self conflict resolving interactive web-based class scheduling system.

Yoo, Sehwan ; Jin, Jongdae ; Kim, Dae Ryong 等

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the possibility of an interactive web-based class schedule management system, which includes automatic conflict resolution functions. This system utilizes the automatic conflict resolution capability to solve tardiness and complexity of class scheduling problems and to save time consuming in the scheduling for both instructors and administrators. The system allows instructors to enter their class schedules to the system directly and solve most of the conflicts with other classes by the criteria already set in the system. The system finalizes each scheduling when the conflicts are solved by the set rules, and administrators intervene to the scheduling process only when the system cannot solve the conflicts even after applying all the criteria. In this case, involved instructors and administrators receive a message from the system to have further adjustment. Through this process, the system provides efficient and powerful means to instructors to set up their class schedule by themselves every semester in timely manner without sacrificing all the stakeholders' interest. By replacing a primarily paper-based work process and utilizing web-based on line scheduling system, both instructors and administrators can use all the scheduling information saved in database and update it whenever they use the system. This practice may save time and cost in class scheduling tremendously for all sort of educational institutions.

INTRODUCTION

With the advancement of information technology, many colleges/universities use Web-based registration systems in which course schedules are offered to & selected by students and then students' course selections are registered with the colleges/universities.[1] For the effective use of Web-based registration systems, Institutions should have a well-organized class schedule system in place before they offer course schedules in their Websites. Having a good schedule is not that easy job in most institutions, because instructors have conflicting preferences on such issues as day, time, classroom, building, and lab [7]. Therefore, there are class conflicts almost all the time in most institutions.

Conventional Web-based class scheduling systems in many universities [2, 4, 5] do not have automatic conflict resolution functions that can solve incompatible and inconsistent class schedules raised by all the instructors in the universities. Department administrators usually have to take actions to resolve not only systematic conflicts but also unsystematic conflicts manually, although systematic conflicts can be resolved automatically in the system. Conventional systems also utilize paper-based work processes or e-mails to interact and/or communicate each other. Conventional systems work but are neither efficient nor convenient in terms of time and process. The motivation of the proposed system is to replace conventional off-line conflict solution processes with automatic resolution processes using a group of pre-set criteria to reduce time and effort for upcoming class scheduling.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of an interactive web-based class schedule management system, which includes automatic conflict resolution functions. To accomplish this objective, this study provides an essence of the proposed system development to show how it was developed, what it looks like, how it can be used, and what are the criteria used in the PHP programming. The study also provides a few captured screens of the user-friendly interfaces of the system. The proposed system provides an efficient and user-friendly Web-based interface to the instructors, too. It also responds immediately to any course scheduling requests with conflicts. The system resolves the conflicts automatically whenever it finds any applicable pre-set criteria for the conflict.

METHODOLOGY

Three important steps in coding class schedule management systems are: creating tables in MySQL, creating HTML pages, and embedding PHP codes into HTML tags. We download PHP [3, 6, 10] and configure PHP to run on personal computer and test the PHP script, first. Then we install and configure MySQL [8, 9], which is followed by a coding of HTML pages. In order to publish the webpage and run it on a web server that supports PHP & MySQL, we gained an access to a DATAFLAME web server supporting PHP and MySQL. Once we learn how to administer the web server, we begin to create tables in database and load the tables with data. PHP files for HTML pages are coded as shown in Figure 1. This figure shows that what kind of information instructors can enter into the program and what kind of view the program produces in response using PHP coding.

The database for this application is developed using MS Access that is widely used for the small database. This database is linked with the web pages in this application. We design nine tables for instructors and administrators: Login_info, Courses_Offered, Semester_Description, Room_Assignment, Bldg_Description, Time_Slots, Requested_Schedule, Instruction_Description, and Conflict_Description

Login_info table--It stores the login information such as User ID and password. First name, last name and email address of the user are also stored in this table. Users can be department administrators, facility administrators or instructors who want to register for teaching courses.

Courses_Offered table--This table has the basic information about the courses being offered in a particular semester of a year. Instructors choose from amongst these courses. And his choices are populated in the Requested_Schedule table. It shows course identification numbers, credit hours and the semester and the year in which the course will be offered.

Semester_Description table--It stores the descriptions of the semester codes that are being used in the Course_info and Requested_Schedule tables.

Room_Assignment table--This table shows the room number, building number and the capacity of the room.

Bldg_Description Table--This is another description table of the building codes that are being used in Room_Assignment and Requested_Schedule table.

Time_Slots table--This table shows the day and time available for the slot.

Requested_Schedule--This table gets populated when the instructor chooses course ID, room No, time and other information related to the class that he/she wants to teach. As the relationship window illustrates, this table is getting values from the others tables.

Instruction_Description--This table shows the descriptions of codes for instruction methods. For example code 0 means that instruction method is face to face and code 1 means that it's a web course.

Conflict_Description Table--This table shows the description of codes for different class scheduling conflicts.

Considering the above-addressed typical tables of this application, we design the entity relationship (ER) diagram that is a logical representation of the data as shown on Figure 2. The database reflects the principal information system of basic functionalities. The tables are accessed by primary key(s), which are bold, and they are interconnected by foreign key(s) from other tables. All tables are linked by the Requested_Schedule table which shows instructors' offering courses.

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

IMPLEMENTATION

The class schedule management system is based upon a client-server architecture. The client side is any Internet browser capable computer with an access to the university network. Instructors and administrators enter class-scheduling information through the system. The interface is developed using HTML and the communication protocol is based upon HTTP. The users can access to the system by logging into their pre-established accounts, which is verified and validated by the system. The users' requests are posted to and processed on the university server via HTTP protocol. Then the system updates the database with the new requests.

This interactive Web-based class schedule management system has two primary users: instructors and administrators. Instructors should be able to perform the following functions in the system:

1. Add classes to their schedules with specific requests for time and location of instruction;

2. Modify class information in the schedule;

3. Delete classes from their schedule;

4. View the schedule;

5. Request new classes with specific requests for time and location of instruction.

The administrator should be able to perform following functions in the system:

1. View un-resolved conflicts;

2. Add new courses;

3. Drop courses not complying with the institution's policy.

This Web-based class schedule management system is a program that enables instructors to schedule classes by applying the pre-set criteria in the system. The system saves all class scheduling requests in the data repository, based on which appropriate reports are produced. The system provides a simple means of class scheduling through a user-friendly Web-based interface. The system will produce the final class schedules if all conflicts in the scheduling requests are resolved automatically by the system. For those un-resolved conflicts, the system sends notices to corresponding instructors and administrators for the necessary actions to resolve the conflicts off-line. This Web page contains hyperlinks to such features as add class, modify class, delete class, show instructor schedule, request a new course addition, modify user preference, home, and logout. Instructors select their class schedules after they choose the 'add class' button.

The screen in Figure 3 shows that instructors can add one or more of pre-selected classes stored in the system to their schedules. The pre-selected classes are classes approved by the administrators before they are entered into the system. Instructors select time and locations of instructions considering such factors as available time slot, enrollment cap, teaching method, and available classrooms. Instructors modify, delete, and see their schedules. They also can request new courses after they choose the proper main menu buttons as shown in Figure 4. Then, instructors can choose their preferred days, time of the days, and classrooms on the menu.

[FIGURES 3-4 OMITTED]

Administrators are supposed to enter classes to be offered to the students and pre-approved classes for each instructor. However, administrators' roles in resolving schedule conflicts are very limited in this class schedule management system. They participate in the conflict resolution process only if there are unresolved scheduling conflicts by the system after applying all applicable conflict resolving criteria.

RESOLVING CONFLICTS IN THE WEB-BASED CLASS SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Conflicts occur when more than one instructors request for the same classroom and the same time slot or when more than one instructors teaching different required classes request for the same time slot. These conflicts will be resolved in the web-based class schedule management system using the following criteria.

Criterion 1: the required course has a preference over the elective course, which means scheduling requests for the required course should be granted, first, between the required course and the elective course.

Criterion 2: the upper level course has a preference over the lower level course. The upper level course is a course offered to the upper class students, while the lower level course is to the lower class students. For example, among advanced level course, intermediate level course, and introductory level course, scheduling requests for advanced level courses should be granted, first, then intermediate level courses, and introductory level course, last.

Criterion 3: the course in the core competent area of the instructor has a preference over the course in the non-core competent area of the instructor. For example, schedule requests for MIS classes by instructors with MIS expertise should be granted before the approval of schedule requests for MIS classes by instructors without MIS expertise for the benefit of students.

Criteria 4: scheduling requests that cause violations of the institution's teaching policy, if not granted, have preferences over the other class scheduling requests that do not. Suppose that an instructor's teaching schedule will violate the institution's teaching policy that prohibits any instructor from teaching more than 3 days a week, if his or her course scheduling request is not granted, his or her course scheduling request should be granted, first.

The above-mentioned 4 criteria should be applied in the same order as they are presented. In other words, apply the criteria in the order of criterion 1, 2, 3, and then 4. It is necessary to apply the immediate subsequent criterion, only if the immediate preceding criterion does not resolve the conflict in the scheduling requests. If all four criteria do not resolve the conflict, the system informs the requesting instructor that he or she must contact the administrator to resolve the conflict.

[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]

If all conflicts are resolved by the system, the approved course schedule of an instructor will appear in the monitor screen. On rare occasions where there be any unresolved course scheduling conflicts, both the requesting instructor and the administrator will receive e-mails regarding them. This request needs further attention of the administrator and will be finalized off line. And the following message shown in Figure 7 will appear in the monitor screen,

[FIGURES 6-7 OMITTED]

CONCLUSION

This paper explores the possibility of an interactive web-based class schedule management system, which includes automatic conflict resolution functions. This system utilizes the automatic conflict resolution capability to save time and effort consumed in the scheduling process for both instructors and administrators. The system allows instructors to enter their class schedules to the system directly and solve most of the conflicts with other classes by the criteria already set in the system. The system finalizes each scheduling request when the conflicts are solved by the pre-set criteria, while administrators intervene to the scheduling process only when the system cannot solve the conflicts even after the system applies all the criteria. In this case, involving instructors and administrators receive a message from the system to have further adjustment.

Through this process, the system provides efficient and powerful means to the instructors to set up their class schedules by themselves every semester in timely manner without sacrificing any stakeholders' interest. By replacing a primarily paper-based work process with a web-based scheduling system, both instructors and administrators can use all information saved in database of the system and update the database whenever they use the system. This practice may save time and cost in class scheduling tremendously for all sort of educational institutions.

REFERENCE

1. Babb, D., (2000). A Brief History of Registration at at UH Manoa Since The Beginning of Time, Infobits, 6 (1).

2. Brown A., (1997). Designing for Learning: What Are the Essential Features of an Effective Online Course?, Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 13 (2).

3. Deitel, H.M., Deitel, P.J., and Nieto, T.R. (2002). Internet &World Wide Web: How to Program, Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ.

4. Fredrickson, S., (1999) Untangling a Tangled Web: An Overview of Web-based Instruction Programs, Journal Online, June.

5. Johnson, J., (2003). The Evolution of Distance Learning In Higher Education, EEE: News & Events, December.

6. Moulding, P., (2001). PHP Black Book Comprehensive Problem Solver, Coriolis Technology Press: Scottsdale, AZ.

7. Thomas N., (2002). Electronic Schedulers for Resource Room and Itinerant Teachers, Odyssey Magazine, Fall.

8. Yarger, R.J., Reese, G., and King, T., (1999). MySQL and mSQL, O'Rielly & Associates, Inc.: Cambridge, MA.

9. http://www.mysql.com, A site for downing MySQL and its documentation.

10. http://www.php.net, A site for downloading PHP and its documentation.

Sehwan Yoo, University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Jongdae Jin, University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Dae Ryong Kim, Delaware State University

Figure 1. PHP Coding (instr_view.php)

<?php
session_start(); //Starting a session where empid is a session
 variable i.e reading the empid
from current session
$_SESSION[empid]; //and when user logs in, it is stored like a global
 variable
$connection = mysql_connect("localhost", "ujtjxwc_110", "BABA") or die
("Couldn't connect to server.");

$db = mysql_select_db("ujtjxwc_c5633s3g25", $connection) or die
 ("Couldn't select database.");
$sql_query1 = "SELECT TM.COURSE_RUBRIC,
TM.COURSE_NUMBER,R. SECTION_ID,E.LNAME,E.FNAME,RM.BLDGDESC,R.ROOM1,
T.day,T.time

 from requested_schedule R, semester_desc S, courses_offered
TM, login_info L, emp_desc E,

 room_assignment RM, timeslot T

 where R.SEMESTER_ID=S.SEMESTER_ID and
TM.CLASS_NUMBER=R.CLASS_NUMBER and L.EMPLOYEEID=R.EMPLOYEEID
 and
E.EMPLOYEEID=R.EMPLOYEEID and RM.BLDG_ID=R.BLDG_ID1 and
RM.ROOMNO=R.ROOM1 and T.TID=R.TID and S.SEMESTER_ID=L.SEMESTER_ID and
R.employeeid=$empid";

$sql_result_query1 = mysql_query($sql_query1,$connection) //executes
the query & stores the data in //$sql_result_query1

 or die ("Couldn't run query!");

?>

//instructor_view.php continued

 while ($row1 = mysql_fetch_array($sql_result_query)) { //passing
the results of the query in to an array

 //called row1 which consist of multiple entities & then we
are breaking those entities in to different variables.

 $title1 = $row1["COURSE_NAME"]; //picking up course name
from array & storing it in title1
 $title2 = $row1["COURSE_NUMBER"];
 $title3 = $row1["SECTION_ID"];
 $title4 = $row1["LNAME"];
 $title5 = $row1["FNAME"];
 $title6 = $row1["BLDGDESC"];
 $title7 = $row1["ROOM1"];
 $title8 = $row1["day"];
 $title9 = $row1["time"];
echo"
<tr>
 <td width=10% align=center>$title1</td> //This prints out on screen
the data according to the following alignment
 <td width=10% align=center>$title2</td>
 .......
 .......
 <td width=10% align=center>$title8</td>
 <td width=10% align=center>$title9</td>
</tr>";