When a schedule is generated, a fairness formula is determined, to express how closely the schedule matches the preferences. When the user chooses “Generate Schedule”, multiple schedules are generated, and the best one chosen is the one with the highest average fairness value.
The equation for the formula is as follows:
Value = Time Proximity(10) + Class Choice(10) – Walking Distance(4) - WTU’s(4)
~~
Time proximity is an average for all assigned classes a teacher has. Each class
time is matched with the closest teacher time preference. If the time slot has a preference
number, that is the number used for that classes time proximity value. If there is no value for that time slot,
then one point is removed for each hour away from the nearest rated time
slot.
Class Choice is an average for all assigned classes a teacher has. Each course is given the value that the teacher rated it in their course preferences. A teacher can’t be assigned to a class they have no preference in (no proficiency for).
Walking Distance takes into account how much walking a teacher has to do between back-to-back classes. No penalty if they are all in the same building or in the nearby area, and a penalty of 4 from the total value if they must frequently walk across the entire campus.
WTU’s is a value for how far a teacher is from the WTU’s they requested. For each class that they don’t get, or get too many of, they receive a point in this section, lowering their overall value.
The final value for the teacher is then averaged with all the other teachers. The average then may be additionally penalized for having 3XX, 4XX, and 5XX level classes with overlapping times. The most that this penalty may be is and additional 4 points taken off.
Schedule Value = Total average teacher value(20) – Overlapping classes(4)
If two schedules have the similar Fairness values, the one that better fits the ranking of constraints will be the one displayed.