Optimisation parameters

In addition to selecting courses , you have the following options for defining optimisation parameters.

Modify current student-course assi…

Checking this box means that any existing student course choices will be disregarded during the optimization.

Locked clusters: stud.-course.alloc.fix

Checking this box means that the current allocation of the students will not be changed with locked clusters.

Optimisation no.

The optimisation number determines the depth of the search for solutions. The larger the number, the more combinations Untis will search in order to find a solution. Valid entries are 1 to 9. No combinations will be skipped if you select 9.

Number of clusters to be created

Use this field to specify the maximum number of clusters that are to be formed. Optimisation will then look for a solution where all courses in the subset are scheduled in these clusters.

Note: Minimum number of clusters

You need at least as many clusters as the maximum number of course choices of each student if you wish to avoid student clashes. If, for example, a student has defined 12 different course choices, you will need at least 12 clusters.

Max. number of courses per cluster

You can use this parameter to limit the number of courses that are to be scheduled in one cluster.

Max. number of choice changes (Stud.-Co-Ch)

It is usually the goal to find solutions where no student takes two courses in the same cluster since such a solution forces the student to choose other courses, i.e. to change his/her course choice.

However, if it is not possible to find a solution without student clashes, you can also search for solutions that cause students to change their course choices. Enter the maximum number of student course choice changes allowed.

Weighting parameters

Weighting parameters are used to define to what degree some of the conditions should be taken into account during optimisation. In addition to a weighting value for observing the minimum and maximum number of students per course, there is also a weighting value for the importance of avoiding student clashes.

Once you are satisfied with the course choices, click on <Continue> in order to start actual optimisation .

Note: Plausibility check

The entries are now tested for their plausibility and a corresponding message will be displayed if problems are encountered. Some of these messages allow you to decide whether you wish to continue with these entries or whether you wish to alter the parameters.