Modeling an academic curriculum plan as a mixed-initiative constraint satisfaction problem

This thesis describes a mixed-initiative constraint satisfaction system for planning academic schedules of university students. The proposed model is distinguished from traditional planning systems by applying mixed-initiative constraint reasoning algorithms, which provide flexibility in satisfying individual student preferences and needs. The graphical interface emphasizes visualization and direct manipulation capabilities to provide an efficient interactive environment for easy communication between the system and the user. The planning process is split into two phases. The first phase builds an initial plan using a systematic search method. The second phase involves a semisystematic local search, which supports mixed-initiative user interaction and control of the search process. Part of the challenge in curriculum scheduling is handling multiple possible schedules that are equivalent under symmetry. We show to overcome these symmetries in the search process. Experiments with actual course planning data show that the mixed-initiative system generates effective curriculum plans efficiently.