Affiliations: [a]
Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering, Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University, Montreal, H3, G 1M8, Canada
| [b] Mechanical, Industrial & Aerospace Engineering, Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University, Montreal, H3, G 1M8, Canada
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Dr. Marcel M. Verbeek, TML, r.830, Department of Neurology, Radboud University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Tel.: +31 24 36 14567; Fax: +31 2436 68754; E-mail: E-mail: Marcel.verbeek@radboudumc.nl.
Abstract: This paper aims to improve students’ learning performance by optimizing their mental stresses in learning through proposing a new course timetabling method. This new method is based on two hypotheses that formulate the link between course timetabling and learning experience: i) a student’s learning performance is superior when the student is subject to moderate stress; ii) an individual’s mental capacity varies during a day according to Circadian Rhythm. The student’s mental stress in taking a course is defined as a function of their mental capacity and the workload required by the course. The workload is determined by utilizing a multi-criteria prioritization technique—Analytic Hierarchy Process. As a result, the timetabling problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming model, which is tested on an engineering program to produce a student-centered timetable for its scheduled courses. This new method differs from traditional course scheduling and timetabling approaches, which are usually tackled as a constrained optimization problem with an objective to optimize a given set of criteria, such as student and faculty preferences, walking distances between consecutive classes, classroom utilization and operating expenses.
