Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature and Studies

A literature is an article written by an authority. Related literature usually explains the

concept being investigated, perhaps elucidate on the variables or factors that relate to this

concept.

Foreign Related Conceptual Literature

On Web-based expert system for class schedule planning using JESS

Making a class schedule for the next semester that suits a student’s interests and meets
overall graduation requirements within a time frame is not always easy. The changing
requirements, transferable units of different schools, the availability of classes and other factors
can often cause mistakes in the scheduling process. An automated tool can help students to
identify scheduling mistakes and compare available options. This paper introduces a web-based
expert system, called class schedule planner (CSP). CSP encapsulates class-scheduling
knowledge and gives intelligent scheduling advises to students. CSP has a set of Web forms to
collect inputs from the users and then translates the request into facts. It uses JESS (Java Expert
System Shell) as a tool to process the facts and rules to generate feasible schedules for the
students. Integration of data from various sources into JESS facts and rules is done by CSP
controller and XML translator. The translated result from JESS is integrated with the Web
presentation using JSP (Java Server Page). The unique technical contribution of this work is that
unlike most other expert systems that require static expert knowledge this expert system allows
dynamic management of knowledge in real time using Web interface (http://ieeexplore.ieee.org).
We introduce constraint-based scheduling and discuss its main principles. An approximation
algorithm based on tree search is developed for the job shop scheduling problem using ILOG
SCHEDULER. A new way of calculating lower bounds on the makespan of the job shop
scheduling problem is presented and we show how such results can be used within a constraint-
based approach. An empirical performance analysis shows that the algorithm we developed
performs well. Finally, taking the job shop scheduling problem as a start point, we discuss how
constraint-based scheduling can be used to solve more general scheduling problems
(http://www.springerlink.com).
 2

On Class Schedule Problem: I-O-C Problem

The problem relates to the design of a class schedule for a college and includes
assignment of instructors, subjects, and classrooms to slots of a weekly timetable. In order to
simplify the problem, we will consider the class schedule for one grade of a specific department.
It is clear that the class schedule problem belongs to the implicit solving activity problem class.
The output, a class schedule, is not a sequence of solving actions. Furthermore, it is also clear that
the problem does not have an explicit evaluation function of an output. It is, however, not clear
whether the problem has an explicit target state. We assume that an output of the current solver is
a tentative schedule that avoids conflict as much as logically possible. The schedule produced
may not be the final one. The final schedule can be determined only after negotiation over
intrinsic conflicts, and this phase is assumed to be out of the scope of the current system. As such,
the final state is a situation in which no further logical assignment is possible under the given
constraint. The class schedule problem is handled as a closed-target problem in this sense. The
stdPDsolverwill be used for the present system as the goal-seeker (http://www.springerlink.com).

FOREIGN RELATED STUDIES

Foreign studies may have some biases in terms of the cultural background of the
respondents of the study.

On Class Room Management

The class meeting is one of the most powerful tools a teacher has to ensure that a positive
learning environment is created and maintained throughout the academic year. In many
companies, there is a “core time” where all employees must be present each workday. By
allowing employees to stagger hours or by changing from five eight-hour days to four ten-hour
days (a “compressed work week”), traffic and commuting problems are eased, parents can adjust
work schedules to school schedules, and expensive office equipment, such as computers, can be
used more efficiently. In 1997 about 25 million full-time workers (about 15.1% of the U.S.
workforce) had flexible schedules. One variation on flextime is job sharing, in which two
employees share the duties of one job by splitting the weekly work hours associated with the job.
Some flextime programs permit employees to work some hours at home; this can include
telecommuting, that is, using the telephone and a home personal computer equipped with a
modem to conduct (http://www.encyclopedia.com).
 3

Assigning an Instructor

Assigning an instructor to a course section requires attention to several fields that may be
overlooked. These fields include Grade Access, EmplRcd#/Job code, Primary Academic Org, and
Workload. This user guide includes information on instructor assignments. In-depth details
regarding the Schedule of Classes menus and functionality are available in the CSUSB Course
Schedule Build and Maintenance User’s Guide. In depth details regarding instructor workload
and the APDB Faculty Term File are available in the User Guide Instructor Term Workload and
Faculty Term File (http://cms.csusb.edu.).