Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1977. / Title from title page screen, viewed Jan. 5, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Elwood Egelston (chair), Ronald Laymon, John McCarthy, Walter Pierce, Ronald Halinski. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-150) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1996. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1998. / Title from title page screen, viewed July 11, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Kenneth H. Strand (chair), George Padavil, Paul J. Baker, Rodney P. Riegle, Larry McNeal. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-172) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006.

The vast majority of researches in the scheduling context focused on finding optimal or near-optimal predictive schedules under different scheduling problem characteristics. In the construction industry, predictive schedules are often produced in advance in order to direct construction operations and to support other planning activities. However, construction projects operate in dynamic environments subject to various real-time events, which usually disrupt the predictive optimal schedules, leading to schedules neither feasible nor optimal. Accordingly, the development of a dynamic scheduling model which can accommodate these real-time events would be of great importance for the successful implementation of construction scheduling systems. This research sought to develop a dynamic scheduling based solution which can be practically used for real time analysis and scheduling of construction projects, in addition to resources optimization for construction enterprises. The literature reviews for scheduling, dynamic scheduling, and optimization showed that despite the numerous researches presented and application performed in the dynamic scheduling field within manufacturing and other industries, there was dearth in dynamic scheduling literature in relation to the construction industry. The research followed two main interacting research paths, a path related to the development of the practical solution, and another path related to the core model development. The aim of the first path (or the proposed practical solution path) was to develop a computer-based dynamic scheduling framework which can be used in practical applications within the construction industry. Following the scheduling literature review, the construction project management community s opinions about the problem under study and the user requirements for the proposed solution were collected from 364 construction project management practitioners from 52 countries via a questionnaire survey and were used to form the basis for the functional specifications of a dynamic scheduling framework. The framework was in the form of a software tool fully integrated with current planning/scheduling practices with all core modelling which can support the integration of the dynamic scheduling processes to the current planning/scheduling process with minimal experience requirement from users about optimization. The second research path, or the dynamic scheduling core model development path, started with the development of a mathematical model based on the scheduling models in literature, with several extensions according to the practical considerations related to the construction industry, as investigated in the questionnaire survey. Scheduling problems are complex from operational research perspective; so, for the proposed solution to be functional in optimizing construction schedules, an optimization algorithm was developed to suit the problem's characteristics and to be used as part of the dynamic scheduling model's core. The developed algorithm contained few contributions to the scheduling context (such as schedule justification heuristics, and rectification to schedule generation schemes), as well as suggested modifications to the formulation and process of the adopted optimization technique (particle swarm optimization) leading to considerable improvement to this techniques outputs with respect to schedules quality. After the completion of the model development path, the first research path was concluded by combining the gathered solution's functional specifications and the developed dynamic scheduling model into a software tool, which was developed to verify & validate the proposed model s functionalities and the overall solution s practicality and scalability. The verification process started with an extensive testing of the model s static functionality using several well recognized scheduling problem sets available in literature, and the results showed that the developed algorithm can be ranked as one of the best state-of-the-art algorithms for solving resource-constrained project scheduling problems. To verify the software tool and the dynamic features of the developed model (or the formulation of data transfers from one optimization stage to the next), a case study was implemented on a construction entity in the Arabian Gulf area, having a mega project under construction, with all aspects to resemble an enterprise structure. The case study results showed that the proposed solution reasonably performed under large scale practical application (where all optimization targets were met in reasonable time) for all designed schedule preparation processes (baseline, progress updates, look-ahead schedules, and what-if schedules). Finally, to confirm and validate the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed solution, the solution's framework and the verification results were presented to field experts, and their opinions were collected through validation forms. The feedbacks received were very positive, where field experts/practitioners confirmed that the proposed solution achieved the main functionalities as designed in the solution s framework, and performed efficiently under the complexity of the applied case study.

Thesis. 1975. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alfred P. Sloan School of Management. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 231-237. / Ph.D.

Several industries use what is called rotating workforce scheduling. This often means that employees are needed around the clock seven days a week, and that they have a schedule which repeats itself after some weeks. This thesis gives an introduction to this kind of scheduling and presents a review of previous work done in the field. Two different optimization models for rotating workforce scheduling are formulated and compared, and some examples are created to demonstrate how the addition of soft constraints to the models affects the scheduling outcome. Two large realistic cases, with constraints commonly used in many industries, are then presented. The schedules are in these cases analyzed in depth and evaluated. One of the models excelled as it provides good results within a short time limit and it appears to be a worthy candidate for rotating workforce scheduling.

Animals performing on simple fixed-ratio (FR) schedules vi typically pause after reinforcement delivery. The present study demonstrated systematic control of pause length in multiple fixed ratio schedules by manipulating FR size and reinforcement magnitude. In Experiment I, two adult male rabbits were stabilized on an alternating, two component, multiple FR 10 FR 10 schedule. Different colored lights were correlated with both FR components. Stability was determined and mean pause lengths were calculated as one FR component was increased in size until the schedule was FR 10 FR 50. Pausing was longer before the large FR component and was positively correlated with increases in FR size. Schedule and stimulus control were demonstrated by randomizing the order of FR presentations and by reversing the colored lights previously correlated with either the small or large FR components. Existing pause differentials were not disrupted under the light reversal or random conditions. In Experiment II, the same rabbits were stabilized at mult FR 10 FR 30 with 1/2 cc of water delivered after each component. In subsequent conditions the magnitude of reinforcement (cc's of water) delivered at the completion of the large FR component, was systematically shifted from 4 cc, to 3 cc, 2 cc, 1 cc and finally back to 1/2 cc. Pausing before the large FR was found to be inversely related to the magnitude of reinforcement delivered in that component. Clearly the animals in this experiment discriminated upcoming schedule conditions and paused relative to FR size and reinforcement magnitude. Hence, it is proper to point out that the term "post-reinforcement pause" is a misnomer since it incorrectly implies a functional relation between pause length and prior schedule conditions.

published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

One purpose of this study was to identify the relationship, if any, that existed between method of scheduling and achievement in reading and mathematics. A second purpose of this study was to identify the relationship, if any, that existed between method of scheduling and student attitudes toward school and learning. A third purpose of the study was to identify what teachers using parallel block scheduling perceived as positive and negative aspects of parallel block scheduling.Data from ISTEP (Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress) scores, student questionnaires, and teacher interviews were used to compare the parallel block scheduled school and the surface scheduled school. ISTEP scores were compared using One Way Analyses of Variance to check equivalency of the two schools at the beginning and at the end of the study and Repeated Measures Analyses of Variance to test the hypotheses. Student questionnairesmeasuring student attitudes toward school and learning were compared for the two schools using Repeated Measures Analyses of Variance. Teachers at the parallel block scheduled school were interviewed to analyze their perceptions of parallel block scheduling.Statistically significant differences were found in mathematics achievement in favor of the parallel block scheduled school. No statistically significant differences were found in reading achievement between the parallel block scheduled school and the surface scheduled school. Statistically significant differences in students' attitudes toward school and learning between the two types of scheduling were found in three out of the four categories. Differences were found in students' beliefs about how well they were learning, students' attitudes toward themselves as learners, and students' beliefs about how others see them as learners in favor of the parallel block scheduled school. No difference was found in students' attitudes toward school. Responses from interviews of teachers using parallel block scheduling indicated that the teachers felt parallel block scheduling had benefitted students in terms of achievement, attitudes toward school and learning, and in their effectiveness as teachers. / Department of Educational Leadership