Comparison Between Business Management Students' Timetabling Systems in Britain and the US - Coursework Example

Comparison between business management timetabling systems in Britain and the US By Tables of content Abstract/Key words 3 1. Introduction 4 1.1 Background and relevance of research 4 1.2 Literature review 5 1.3 Methodology 7 1.3.1 Research philosophy 7 1.3.2 Research approach 8 1.3.3 Research methods 9 2. Resources 10 2.1 Resources 10 2.2 Timescale 10 3. References 11 4. Appendix 12 Abstract The study is to compare the timetabling systems of Business management students in the US and Britain. The paper explains in the context the differences and similarities in the development of timetabling in the two countries. The paper shall use an inductive approach in its study. In addition, the paper shall follow a realism philosophy. Throughout the paper, the researcher shall conduct an investigation of the comparisons between the timetabling system in the US and Britain. Key words Timetabling, Research philosophy, Research approaches, Timescale 1. Introduction 1.1 Background and relevance of research This study is to find solutions to problems associated with timetabling. The problem is required to be studied deeply to find its solution. This research proposal would specifically focus on timetabling challenges in Cambridge University and Oakland University. Specifically the research will focus on the timetable of second year students pursuing Business Management. In Cambridge University, which falls under the UK system of education, Students are usually unable to choose the subjects they would wish to take. In addition, they are usually unable to change the time of their specific subjects, unless one possesses medical permission. On the other hand, Oakland University system of timetabling usually entails hours of study. This inconsistency on the matters of timetabling among different universities can be solved, by involving concerned parties in talks. It would greatly contribute to the creation of a timetable, is flexible and accommodating. The review on digitalization of the timetabling process, simply involves reducing a problem related to matters of timetabling into mathematical definition. It is its solution. The process is usually long and requires a division into many parts. Allocation of study-units into specific timeslots follows next. The research proposal has aims. One of them is to compare the timetabling system of Britain and the US. Specifically the study would be narrowed down to the second years of Cambridge and Oakland University. In addition, the primary reason behind this study is to establish an appropriate solution of the problem of timetabling. The problem is the formulation of proper timetables that satisfy all the high constraints while in the other hand minimizing the medium and the low constraints. (Edmund Burke (Ph. D.), 2003) In addition, the research will equip university management with sufficient information on ways of developing timetables. It will help reduce scenarios where instructors attend to different lectures at the same time. In addition, the researcher will provide a framework for educational stakeholders to improve the level of education. 1.2 Literature review Finding solutions to problems related to university timetabling is always difficult. It is because of the complex nature involving many universities. When finding solutions to operation research problems involving timetabling, it is usually of great importance to treat the problem definition stage with great attention. Any form of design, always starts with requirements that are usually regarded as being incomplete. They transform them into needed things. Researches has been there concerning timetabling. The study by (Schaerf, 2010, pp. 1-10) indicated that most American schools and universities rely on constraint programming. School managers in the US choose interactive approach to the problem of timetabling. The study further indicates that timetabling in the US follows manual procedure in its development. Most universities and schools do not want to invest in computer tools that could assist in the production of timetabling. A research by (Ramirez, 2010, pp. 1-53) indicates that timetabling in the US varies with different universities. There are intrinsically dynamics that vary from university to university in the US. They include the ability of universities to accumulate resources to improve their timetabling, and the availability of professionals who would develop an efficient timetabling. A study by (Anon., 2010, pp. 1-10) indicates that most timetabling systems in the US allows for weekly scheduling of all instructors. The universities have not found the best way of preventing instructors from attending two lectures at a time. With this problem in hand, most universities in America rely on a manual system of timetabling. The study indicates that this method is tiresome and time-consuming. In addition, the study indicated that most American universities have turned into network flow systems to design their timetables. It is a method of reducing the problem of lecturers attending two lectures at a given time. A study by (Bistarelli, 1997, p. 5) indicated that most American universities have not embraced automated timetabling. The universities want to avoid it because they want to create more time for assignments. In addition, the universities do not want students to roll forward with the last semesters timetable. The study indicates that most universities are aware that they cannot fulfill the demand of every student and lecturer. Most universities in the US have concentrated in centralizing their classes. According to research by (Burke, 2001, p. 57), it is an easy means of serving a large population and helping in reducing timetabling problems. A study by (BURKE, 2011, pp. 1-11) indicates that most universities in Britain have preferred a centralized timetabling system. The students in the British system have a requirement of adhering to modular course structures. The structures require a timetabling system that is central. The study indicates that students in Britain have the flexibility of choosing their education purpose. In addition, universities in Britain have the optimal use of their teaching space. The British system allows students to control their content of studies according to research by (McColum, 2010, pp. 1-3). The study indicates that students can create their own timetable to cover for the time outside school and their desired discipline. In addition, studies indicate that Britain students have the right to shift from departments. They can study other disciplines that they see it may fit them. It demands the timetabling system to be more flexible and accommodative of students. A study by (McColum, 2010, pp. 1-3) indicates that most British universities emphasize on the use of a modular timetable. The timetable would ensure flexibility of courses. It made the timetable be the most important asset of British universities. The timetabling system had to entail a combination of different modules. A study by (McColum, 2010, p. 3) recommends for review of the timetabling system of the British. Most universities have to embrace the centralized system of timetabling. In addition, the universities should join hand in solving problems affecting timetabling. 1.3 Methodology 1.3.1 Research philosophy The research philosophy of this study is realism. The researcher depends on human values and theories that explain the difference in timetabling systems. The paper focused on results that were already present. There were researches already done to draw the differences of the timetabling systems in Britain and the US. It is evident there are different objectives that influence the difference in timetabling systems. The study did not consider humans as objects, which could contribute in the study, as per natural science. The study shows how the people reacted to the difference in timetabling systems, in the two countries. 1.3.2 Research approach The paper used inductive approach in conducting the research. The researcher relied first on the specific observations of the differences in timetabling system. University staff and students were the first participants to get involved in the research. They gave their specific thoughts on the timetabling systems. From there, the researcher then broadened the research and involved theories and generalizations. Inductive approach was important because the research was qualitative. The research had an aim of developing a new theory about differences in timetabling systems. It was important for the researcher to begin the research with a completely open mind. The research did not require the researcher to contain any preconceived information. It would provide a framework to develop an effective theory (Gabriel, 2013, pp. 1-3). The research had to compare its theory with other theories to find the position of the study. The inductive approach demanded the researcher of this study to do an extensive approach towards grounded theory. It resulted to the researcher analyzing various theories, multiple times. The motivation for this approach is, there are few studies regarding the differences in timetabling of the US and the Britain. It was important to create a new theory to explain this phenomenon. 1.3.3 Research methods The research was to identify the comparisons in the British and the US systems of timetabling. The study entails many complex issues, which demands extensive research. The task of doing the research has both utilitarian and cognitive characteristics. With this characteristic in hand, it is evident the work is very large and requires the researcher to quickly adapt to various methodologies. The adaptation would help the researcher maintain the study philosophy and respect the inductive approach. It would demand provision of a wide range of research tools, for better clarification of results. The most used approach in the research was scientific methods. The technique proved useful when analyzing various literatures. The literatures covered the issue of timetabling in the US and Britain. In addition, there was involvement of action research to cover deeply the research question. Critical thinking came was important to define the scope of the study. Furthermore, logical deduction helped to discuss the scope further. The research had to explain the role of University management in the development of timetables. Information about the role came from numerous reviews of literatures. The research wanted to prepare the best protocol in reliability case study. To ensure it was the best, the researcher prepared adequate research question. The rationale for preparing the research question is that, it would help in answering the research question and help in the development of a new theory. A special team had to evaluate the questions and prepare a SWOT analysis. It would assist in maintaining good ethics during the research. Before the survey, the researcher had to possess informed consent. The researcher had a database that stored all the interviews and documentation in the field. It was to ensure confidentiality of the data. The database came in handy when analyzing various theories in depth. In addition, the researcher used the internet to further the study. He had to visit the local library to acquire information from the latest journals. 2. Resources/Time scale 2.1 Time scale The researcher predicted the research to take approximately two months to complete, February and March. The research used an inductive approach, which requires a big timescale. The GANTT chart would show the time scale, as shown in the appendix (BBC, 2014, p. 3). 2.2 Resources The research required several resources. It includes a car, an E-Journal Titles, an online reference, an E-book, an E-data, Archives, rare books, government information, theses, maps, RefWorks, Course reserves, and conference proceedings. References Anon., 2010. University Course Timetabling with Soft Constraints, New York: Purdue University. BBC, 2014. The Overall plan. Bitesize, p. 6. Bistarelli, S., 1997. Semiring-based constraint solving and optimization. Journal of ACM, p. 10. Burke, E., 2001. Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling III: Third International Conference, PATAT 2000 Konstanz, Germany, August 16-18, 2000 Selected Papers. Chicago: Springer. BURKE, E., 2011. Examination Timetabling in British Universitie, Nottingham: University of Nottingham. Edmund Burke (Ph. D.), M. C., 2003. Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling . In: Business & Economics. New York: Springer, pp. 207-210. Gabriel, D., 2013. Inductive and deductive approaches to research, s.l.: s.n. McColum, B., 2010. implementation of cental timetanling in largr Britain civic university sytem, Nottingham: University of Nottingham. Ramirez, E. R., 2010. USING GENETIC ALGORITHMS TO SOLVE HIGH SCHOOL COURSE TIMETABLING PROBLEMS, San Diego: San Diego State University. Schaerf, A., 2010. Local Search Techniques for Large High-School Timetabling Problems. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYSTEMS, MAN AND CYBERNETICS , p. 10. 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