TABLE OF CONTENTS
During timetable construction, it is likely that problems will arise, such as teacher or room clashes, or spread or part-time teacher issues. Edval has an 'Improve' algorithm to address these issues. However, there are sometimes problems for which the program cannot find a quick solution. If problems still exist after running the Improve function for an extended period, we must look for the underlying reasons that are preventing the problem from being resolved.
This document offers some ideas to try when there are problems in a file.
Solving teacher clashes
- Part timers: Often the biggest cause of clashes. If these occur and cannot be worked around split classes will be required, go to the teacher’s timetable, click on the clashing lesson, hit T on your keyboard, and select a different teacher from the pop up to take this lesson only to resolve the clash.
- Check spreads of classes. Perhaps the spreads need to be altered to cater to part timer availability.
- Use flags to locate teachers to help see the issue, and to also help see where staffing swaps may be possible or advantageous.
- Manual staffing changes can be made. It may be that you solve one clash only to create another, but that the new clash is easier to solve than the original clash. Swapping staff around, then trying an Improve, can do wonders!
- Don’t restrict the investigation of a clash to the Master Grid. Check Year Timetables and Group Timetables to see why a class cannot move to another period. Are there Elective Lines filling some periods? Does one Group (eg 9G) have more than one part-timer preventing the movement of classes? What pinned classes are there in that year level?
- Where staffing is not hardcoded in F6, selecting ‘Allow teacher swaps’ when running the Improve may find a solution.
- Utilise the 'Pin Staffing' functions to ensure that changes to staffing are restricted to the classes you want to change.
For example to resolve a clash with an *HIS class you may:
1. Pin all Staffing
Be Careful – Pinning of Staffing is cleared if you leave and re-enter the Master Grid. Ensure you have done the pin/unpin before each Improve with Staff Swaps
2. Unpin classes using Wildcards (eg 8HIS*, 7HIS*)
Solving room clashes
It is very important to make sure that the rooming data and subject room options for each subject are correct prior to beginning construction, as Edval is always checking as it builds the timetable that each class can be given the room it wants if placed in any given period. The construction is managing all your resources (teacher and rooms) when constructing, so it is important to tell Edval the right information.
- Ensure rooms in Rooms > Room data are correctly identified as General (G) or Specialist (S)
- Check Rooms > Subject rooms are correct prior to beginning construction. Do specialist subjects have a ‘Y’ in the ‘Only’ column to tell Edval that the subject must get only one of the rooms listed (rather than resort to a General room)
- Check Class data > RoomPref cell. Is there old, incorrect data here? It is usually best to leave the RoomPref cells empty, so that the full set of room options listed in Rooms > Subject rooms display. No need for double entry!
Solving spread issues
As spread issues become known, and in order to attempt to fix them, consider the following:
- Classes > Class data contains the required spreads for all classes
- Has the Improve function been run for some time (10 minutes or so?)
- Are part timer days off forcing classes to be timetabled in such a way that the classes cannot possibly get the spreads they have requested?
- Investigate in several timetabling views why the class spread cannot be achieved eg Year timetables, Group timetables.
Health Check
Look at the Health Check summary screen regularly throughout the process of adding classes.
The Summary page provides a very helpful at-a-glance listing of issues, and each issue may be clicked on to look at the details. In particular, check:
- Clashes > Teachers
- Teachers > Busy days
- Classes > Spreads (no point getting a clash free timetable if the classes don’t have the spreads they need!)
Refer to: E10 - Health Check
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