A Constraint-Based Academic Timetable and Conflict Detection System for Dynamic Class Rescheduling in a Higher Education Context

Abstract

Academic timetabling is a complex institutional process that becomes particularly difficult when timetable changes are required after the initial schedule has been published. In many universities, post-publication rescheduling is still coordinated through fragmented manual channels such as class representatives, messaging groups, phone calls, and informal notices. These practices increase the likelihood of delays, venue uncertainty, communication failure, and hidden timetable conflicts. This study designed, implemented, and evaluated an Academic Timetable and Conflict Detection System for a higher education context, with emphasis on dynamic class rescheduling rather than initial timetable generation alone. The system uses a Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP) approach to generate conflict-free timetable allocations and a localised dynamic validation mechanism to support lecturer-initiated rescheduling. It checks lecturer, venue, and programme-level conflicts, supports grouped courses shared across programmes, updates timetable state after successful changes, and notifies affected students through in-application and email alerts. Evaluation combined scenario-based comparison using documented scheduling incidents, functional testing, performance observation, and limited usability assessment. Results showed that grouped course rescheduling which previously required at least two hours and forty-three minutes of manual coordination was completed in an average lecturer-visible time of 12.26 seconds. The rescheduling preview mechanism produced an average response time of 99.6 ms, and all eight functional test cases were successfully executed. The findings indicate that integrating CSP-based scheduling with dynamic conflict-aware rescheduling can improve timetable reliability, responsiveness, and communication efficiency in academic environments.