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A harmony search algorithm for university course timetabling

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  • Mohammed Al-Betar
  • Ahamad Khader

Abstract

One of the main challenges for university administration is building a timetable for course sessions. This is not just about building a timetable that works, but building one that is as good as possible. In general, course timetabling is the process of assigning given courses to given rooms and timeslots under specific constraints. Harmony search algorithm is a new metaheuristic population-based algorithm, mimicking the musical improvisation process where a group of musicians play the pitches of their musical instruments together seeking a pleasing harmony. The major thrust of this algorithm lies in its ability to integrate the key components of population-based methods and local search-based methods in a simple optimization model. In this paper, a harmony search and a modified harmony search algorithm are applied to university course timetabling against standard benchmarks. The results show that the proposed methods are capable of providing viable solutions in comparison to previous works. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammed Al-Betar & Ahamad Khader, 2012. "A harmony search algorithm for university course timetabling," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 194(1), pages 3-31, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:annopr:v:194:y:2012:i:1:p:3-31:10.1007/s10479-010-0769-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10479-010-0769-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Burke, Edmund Kieran & Petrovic, Sanja, 2002. "Recent research directions in automated timetabling," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(2), pages 266-280, July.
    2. Burke, Edmund K. & McCollum, Barry & Meisels, Amnon & Petrovic, Sanja & Qu, Rong, 2007. "A graph-based hyper-heuristic for educational timetabling problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 176(1), pages 177-192, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Assif Assad & Kusum Deep, 2018. "Harmony search based memetic algorithms for solving sudoku," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 9(4), pages 741-754, August.
    2. Wei Sun & Yujun He & Hong Chang, 2015. "Forecasting Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption for Power Generation Using QHSA-Based LSSVM Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Johnes, Jill, 2015. "Operational Research in education," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 243(3), pages 683-696.
    4. F. Paola & M. Giugni & F. Pugliese & P. Romano, 2018. "Optimal Design of LIDs in Urban Stormwater Systems Using a Harmony-Search Decision Support System," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 32(15), pages 4933-4951, December.
    5. MinJun Kim & JuneSeok Hong & Wooju Kim, 2019. "An Efficient Representation Using Harmony Search for Solving the Virtual Machine Consolidation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Hasan, Basima Hani F. & Abu Doush, Iyad & Al Maghayreh, Eslam & Alkhateeb, Faisal & Hamdan, Mohammad, 2014. "Hybridizing Harmony Search algorithm with different mutation operators for continuous problems," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 1166-1182.
    7. Mohammed Al-Betar & Ahamad Khader & Iyad Doush, 2014. "Memetic techniques for examination timetabling," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 218(1), pages 23-50, July.
    8. Abha Sharma & Pushpendra Kumar & Kanojia Sindhuben Babulal & Ahmed J. Obaid & Harshita Patel, 2022. "Categorical Data Clustering Using Harmony Search Algorithm for Healthcare Datasets," International Journal of E-Health and Medical Communications (IJEHMC), IGI Global, vol. 13(4), pages 1-15, August.
    9. R. A. Oude Vrielink & E. A. Jansen & E. W. Hans & J. Hillegersberg, 2019. "Practices in timetabling in higher education institutions: a systematic review," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 275(1), pages 145-160, April.
    10. Lahasan, Badr Mohammed & Venkat, Ibrahim & Al-Betar, Mohammed Azmi & Lutfi, Syaheerah Lebai & Wilde, Philippe De, 2016. "Recognizing faces prone to occlusions and common variations using optimal face subgraphs," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 283(C), pages 316-332.

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