Term-related optimisation

The multiple terms timetable module allows you to create different timetables for different parts of the year.

This makes it possible to offer your students a completely different range of courses in every semester from and to create separate timetables for each semester.

Year's planning in terms

An important tool for scheduling and dividing up a school year is the 'Year's planning in terms' option. This enables you to very simply distribute lessons over the individual terms, i.e. as required by our example, to assign courses either to the first or to the second semester. You will find a detailed description of the window in the manual 'Modules' in chapter 'Year's planning in terms'.

Term planning for the year, when combined with the course scheduling module, attempts to ensure during the optimisation of course assignments that each student has a balanced workload across all terms and that alternative courses are evenly utilised.

Own weighting options take account of course distribution at student level.

Note: Fixed course assignments

In order not to lose optimised course assignments after terms have been created the corresponding course choices are automatically locked when the terms are created

You have two options after courses have been distributed over terms.

Termwise optimisation of clusters

Perform standard optimisation before creating terms making sure to check the 'Termwise optimisation of clusters' box in the initial standard optimisation dialogue window. This will prevent courses that do not take place together in any term from being scheduled in the same cluster.

Optimise terms separately

Use the <Create terms> button to create both terms before creating the clusters, and then optimise each of these terms separately by performing course optimisation in one term and then in the other.

Note: Course with 0 weekly periods

Courses are assigned 0 periods/week in terms where they are not planned. This allows you to retain an overview of all student course choices within a term.

These course assignments have already been optimised previously in the 'Year's planning in terms' window. As mentioned above, certain course choices that should not be modified during further processing have now been locked and will therefore not be touched by course optimisation. However, if you wish to change a course assignment in spite of its being locked, you must first remove the lock on the course choice before being able to assign the desired course.. Please always bear in mind that such a change is only performed in the current term, but may have to be taken into account in other terms and may therefore have an effect there, too (e.g. on the total number of weekly periods of the student in that term).

Note: Copy term

We strongly advise against making any changes to course choices after terms have been created. If this cannot be avoided, you can use the <Copy to other terms> button in the student-course-choice window to copy the course choice for the current term very easily to any other terms.