Navigation:  Modules > Course Scheduling > Course scheduling > Course optimisation > Course choices/clusters in scheduling

Course scheduling and timetable optimisationAt the end of the course planning process, all student course choices should have been determined there should be a number of clusters with courses that can be scheduled at the same time. It is now important to place the courses and clusters in the timetable, i.e. to schedule them. This task is part of timetable optimisation.

 

Please ensure that no contradictory entries are made for the courses of a cluster, e.g. one course is to be given in double periods and another one in single periods. This type of input can impair the results of optimisation.

 

 

Note: Cluster conditions

are one way of preventing such results. To this end, define one cluster condition with the single-period courses and another with double-period courses and specify that course from the one condition may not be scheduled with course from the other condition in the same cluster.

 

There are basically two different methods for timetable optimisation.

 

Clusters may be broken up

 

If course assignment to clusters may be modified, timetable optimisation can begin immediately. For timetable optimisation, a cluster is nothing other than a group of simultaneous courses. All courses in a simultaneous group are scheduled by placement optimisation at one position in the timetable. However, swap optimisation may still move individual courses.

 

Clusters must be retained

 

If clusters need to be retained at all costs you can convert all or selected clusters to couplings in the course-cluster matrix. This ensures that all course in a cluster really are scheduled at the same positions in the timetable.

 

 

 

 

 

Note: Couplings to simultaneous groups

You can access the reverse function via 'File | Auxiliary functions | Couple. to Less.-Sequ.'.

 

 

Warning: Fixed (locked) clusters

If you fix clusters, all courses in the clusters concerned will be fixed. This means that these course cannot be moved during swap optimisation. This represents a significant restriction on optimisation.