An integrated hybrid approach to the examination timetabling problem

This paper is derived from an interest in the development of automated approaches to tackle examination timetabling problems effectively. We propose a hybrid approach that incorporates effective heuristic operators within the great deluge algorithm. The latter was chosen because of consistently good performances being reported within the examination timetabling research domain. The additional heuristic procedures further enhance the overall effectiveness of this integrated hybrid approach. These procedures are drawn from methodologies that have appeared in the literature under term the electromagnetic-like mechanism. The aim is to move sample points towards a high quality solution while avoiding local optima by utilising a calculated force value. This value, which is calculated dynamically, is treated as a decay rate in determining the level within the great deluge algorithm. To evaluate the proposed algorithm, we carry out experimental work on two types of examination timetabling datasets. All the related results and analysis obtained illustrate that this hybrid approach is effective when compared with existing approaches in the literature. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.