Web Based Expert System for Class Schedule Planning

Web Based Expert System for Class Schedule Planning using JESS Ken Ho Hewlett Packard Company Meiliu Lu Department of Computer Science California State University, Sacramento 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 1

Agenda l l l l Motivation Related Works Paper Contributions System Architecture & Design Short Demo Conclusion Future Works Questions 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 2

Motivations Class schedule planning mistake often causes graduation delay l Demands for a convenient, intelligent system to give expert advises on class schedule planning decisions l Current solutions have one or more deficiencies: l – Not web-enabled – Few user-defined inputs – Require rewriting the tool on requirement changes 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 3

Related Works l OASIS advising assistance system from UC Davis – A command-line tool that reports discrepancies about a academic plan l Degree Audit Tool from Chico State University. – A web-based tool that shows a countdown of gradation requirement l Proposed Expert Systems on academic planning [1, 2, 3, 4] 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 4

Class Schedule Planner (CSP) Contributions l Considers various user-defined parameters 1. Concentration (ex. A. I. , Computer Architecture…) 2. Part time or full time student 3. Courses they already completed 4. Preferred times and days to attend classes 5. Courses that they like to take 6. Courses that they want to avoid l Allows dynamic management of knowledge in real time using web interfaces 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 5

CSP Overview l CSP – Provides a set of web forms to collect inputs from students – Uses encapsulated expert knowledge to provide scheduling advises – Collects current class data from school web sites in real time – Provides web forms for system administrators to change requirements l System Users – Students • Request suitable schedules by answering a set of questions – Administrators • Update degree requirement and class prerequisites • Update the information URL (current semester class schedule) 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 6

CSP Overall Architecture Class Schedule Planner (CSP) Admin web browser default previous user data degree requirement & course prerequisites update degree requirement and course prerequisites data file (xml) XML translator Internet dynamic facts Jess User parameters static rules CSP Controller Jess output class schedule(s) (up to 4 terms) User web browser 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 7

What is JESS? l An Open-source Expert System Shell for the Java Platform – Similar to the language defined by CLIPS expert system shell Supports the development of rule-based expert system l Provides Java interfaces to store and map expert system rules and facts l Good for web-based expert system with changing rules and facts l 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 8

Student Interaction Class Schedule Planner (CSP) requirement data file (xml) XML translator Internet dynamic facts dynamic rules User parameters Jess User parameters static rules class schedule(s) CSP Controller Jess output class schedule(s) User web browser 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 9

Goal Driven Approach with JESS l Stage 1 – Provides 1 st set of recommended classes based on the student inputs l Stage 2 – Provides 2 nd set of recommended classes based on the prerequisites of the 1 st set of recommended classes l Stage 3 – Provides 3 rd set of recommended classes based on the random selection of remaining classes 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 10

Administrator Interaction Class Schedule Planner (CSP) Admin web browser Update degree requirement & Course prerequisites Internet update degree requirement & course prerequisites data file (xml) XML translator update degree requirement and course prerequisites CSP Controller 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 11

Dynamic Change of Rules l (defrule satisfy_core The following is an example of the Core (course_taken (name "CSC 201")) requirement rule: (course_taken (name "CSC 204")) (defrule satisfy_core (course_taken (name "CSC 201")) (course_taken (name "CSC 204")) (defrule satisfy_core (course_taken (name "CSC 205")) (course_taken (name "CSC 206")) (course_taken (name "CSC 209")) (course_taken (name "CSC (not (core_passed yes)) (course_taken (name "CSC => (course_taken (name "CSC (assert (core_passed yes))) (course_taken (name "CSC 205")) (course_taken (name "CSC 206")) 201")) (course_taken (name "CSC 207")) 204")) (course_taken (name "CSC 209")) (not 205")) (core_passed yes)) => 206")) (assert (core_passed yes))) (course_taken (name "CSC 209")) (not (core_passed yes)) => (assert (core_passed yes))) 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 12

Demo: Make Schedules 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 13

Conclusion l We integrate three key elements in this paper – Understanding problem areas in class schedule planning domain – Integrating JESS, Java, XML and popular web technologies for easy webbased deployment – Providing methodologies for dynamic knowledge management 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 14

Future works Making the degree requirement specification more scaleable l Data warehousing CSP users data for empirical evaluation and suggestions for new student users l Connect to the student information database directly so that part of student user input like courses taken can be automated l Port CSP server to Linux/Unix platforms l – We are currently porting CSP to the CSUS CS department’s Linux server 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 15

Reference [1] Tsutsui, S. et al, “Class scheduling by neurocomputing: a comparison with the expert system approach”, Systems, Man and Cybernetics, 1990. Conference Proceedings, IEEE International Conference on, Vol. , Iss. , 4 -7 Nov 1990, Pages: 227 -232 [2] Yoshikawa, M et al, “A constraint-based high school scheduling system”, Expert, IEEE [see also IEEE Intelligent Systems], Vol. 11, Iss. 1, Feb 1996, Pages: 63 -72 [3] Mc. Donald, G et al, “An expert system solution to a constraint satisfaction problem in academic administration”, Applied Computing, 1990. , Proceedings of the 1990 Symposium on, Vol. , Iss. , 5 -6, Apr 1990 Pages: 161 -163 [4 ] Frank, J. L et al, “Mentor-I: an expert database system for student guidance”, Expert, IEEE [see also IEEE Intelligent Systems], Vol. 3, Iss. 2, Summer 1988, Pages: 40 -46 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 16

Questions 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005 17

Thank You! 15 August, 2005 IEEE IRI 2005