Abstract:

Scheduling courses that meet the specific needs of students in a particular department is a crucial task that requires considerable time and effort from the scheduling committee before the start of each academic semester. In the Information Technology (IT) department of King Abdulaziz University (KAU), the scheduling process not only considers the students’ requirements for courses but also the academic staff's workload, which must be considered during the scheduling process.

As the number of IT students at KAU increases yearly, it becomes more significant to determine and manage the desired courses for the upcoming academic semester. The students are required to follow the IT plan courses, and all necessary courses must be offered each semester. However, determining the required courses for each semester can be challenging due to the possibility of withdrawing from courses, failing to complete courses, or transferring to the department, which negatively affects students’ plans. To overcome these challenges, the scheduling committee in the IT department strives to create a suitable schedule that meets all students' needs and accommodates the academic staff's workload, thereby saving time and effort.

To overcome these issues, the web-based system is constructed using the waterfall method. This method is suitable since the requirements and scheduling process are well-defined from the beginning.

The IT Desired Courses Collector (DCC) system is a web-based system designed to automate and manage the collection of desired IT courses that fit students’ requirements and academic staff’s workload. It connects IT students with their academic advisors to ensure that their requested courses for the upcoming semester align with the department's plan. The proposed system aims to eliminate incorrect information sent to the scheduling committee, saving time and effort and preventing the creation of unsuitable schedules several times in one semester to fit students’ requirements.

Keywords:

Management scheduling courses, Courses collector.