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SIS 2000+ Conflict Matrix Detailed Instructions Last update: 04/15/2001 jmm

The Potential Conflict Matrix Report is used as a tool for designing the Master Schedule. It is the road map that shows what courses students are requesting in conjunction with other courses and will show potential scheduling conflicts based on students' course requests.

For example, if there are 30 students requesting Calculus and the same students are requesting French IV and both courses are singletons (only one section offered), the courses will have to be scheduled in different periods in order to prevent conflicts. If there were 200 students requesting the same two courses in this example, additional sections in different periods would need to be offered as well.

The courses being analyzed in the Matrix are called the "indexed courses". In the example of Fig. 1, the indexed course is "CONTEM LIT". The entries listed below the indexed course are called the "conflict courses" (The indexed course also appears within this list, outlined in a box). The total number of course requests for the indexed course is displayed in the Requests column on the far right. The conflict courses are the courses that have been requested by the same students who requested the indexed course, thus indicating potential conflicts. In the process of scheduling analysis, the same student request count from the conflict courses is compared with the request count of the indexed course along with the number of Sections offered.

The Conflict Matrix Report can be run as many times as necessary during the process of analyzing and minimizing potential conflicts. Using queries, a wide variety of criteria may be defined to select the records to be reported.

Sample Report -

Fig. 1
 

• For details on the course request process, see Course Request Editor.
• For more information on creating the master schedule, see Master Schedule Editor.
• For a general outline of the scheduling process and how scheduling reports are used in the process, see Student Loader, Step 1, "Prerequisites"

1. Open the report
From the Scheduling Menu, click on the Reports icon button. Select the report's title from the list menu that appears. See General Reporting Procedures, Step 1 for more information on finding and opening a report.

Fig. 2 - opening screen, default Options
 

2. Define Parameters
The opening screen of this report (Fig. 2) contains three information screens: 'Options', 'Select', and 'Sort'. Click on each tab to view and define various parameters for the report, or continue to the Step 3, "Print Preview" to view and/or print the report using the default parameters.

2.1 Choose Options
Click on the 'Options' tab (Fig. 3). Choose options as follows:

Fig. 3 - sample options
 
• Title -

The default title of the report is "Potential Conflict Matrix". The title may be edited by the user.
• Track -

Select a track to report within the logged on school.
• Maximum Sections -

In a separate application called Track Course Selection, courses are assigned a value to represent the "number of sections" offered for the selected school site/track. This number is estimated based on the number of course requests generated, as reported by the Course Request List & Tally Report. Potential conflicts involving courses with more than one section will be easier to resolve than courses with only one section. Therefore, in order to reduce the size of the report by filtering out courses with more than one section, set the Maximum Sections number to a lower value. To include courses with more than one section, set the number to a higher value according to the section count value to be included.
• Include Teacher Assistant -

In some schools a student can request to enroll in a course as a teaching assistant. Check this box to include this type of request in the total request count for a course.
• Include Alternate Request -

Courses may be requested as alternates for other courses. Check this box to include this type of request in the total request count for a course.
• Conflicting Course Order -

Courses to be reported are indexed and sorted by department and course code (See Step 2.3, "Define the Sort Order"). Below each indexed course in the report is a sub-list of conflicting courses, that is, courses that are requested by the same students as the indexed course. This sub-list can be sorted in a variety of ways by entering a check mark in one of four radio buttons, as follows:
• Department -

Sorts in ascending alphanumeric order according to Department code
• Course Code -

Sorts in ascending alphanumeric order according to Course code
• Course Name -

Sorts in ascending alphanumeric order according to Course Description
• Course Count -

(Default selection) Sorts in descending numeric order according number of requests in potential conflict with the indexed request.
 



Click on the Reset command button to restore all Options to their default selections (Fig. 2).
 

2.2 Apply Select queries
SIS 2000+ reports can be instructed to print specific records through the application of queries. A query is essentially a data filter. By defining criteria (parameters) for selected data fields, specific records can be retrieved. Click on the 'Select' tab. A list of data fields is displayed (Fig. 4). These are the data fields that will available for querying. The default criteria is "All" for each data field. To apply a select query to any data field, continue with Step 2.2.1. If no queries are needed, continue to the sorting procedure in Step 2.3.


Fig. 4
 

2.2.1 Select data fields and apply queries
Select a data field in the list until it is highlighted in gray (Fig. 3) and then click on the Edit command button. A query screen (criteria selection screen) will open that is specifically designed for the selected data field. There are several possible types of queries, depending on the data field selected. Further instructions on how to apply each type of query are found in the document titled General Reporting Procedures, as follows:
 
• Course = Query Type 3. This query allows for the selection of a single course or any number of specific courses to be indexed. If none are selected then "All" will be indexed.
• Course Group = Query Type 1. A specific course group or set of groups may be selected. Those courses within the group(s) will be indexed in the Matrix. Course groups are pre-defined in the Group Editor application.
• Department = Query Type 1. A specific department or set of departments may be selected. Only those courses within the department(s) will be indexed in the Matrix. If none are selected, then "All" will be reported. Departments are assigned in the District Courses program.
• Term Preference = Query Type 1. A specific term or set of terms may be selected for reporting. If none are selected, then "All" will be reported.
 

Apply queries as needed for each of the above data fields.
 

Note on Query results:  Use caution when making multiple queries across data fields. Only records that satisfy all queries will be reported. Some queries may be mutually exclusive, causing the report to yield no records. For example, selecting a single course in the Athletics department in the Course query and selecting the "Math Department" in the Department query will yield no records to report. In this type of situation there will be no pages to preview or print for the body of the report. This status will be indicated by the following error message appearing at the bottom of the cover sheet:  ***** NO RECORDS SELECTED FOR REPORT *****  In other instances there may be no conflict courses found for the queried courses to be indexed. In this case there will also be no pages to preview or print for the body of the report. This status will be indicated by the following error message appearing at the bottom of the cover sheet:  ***** NO CONFLICT DETECTED FOR REPORT ******

 

2.2.2 Review selected parameters
After parameters are set and queries applied as needed, the view will return to the 'Select' screen. Each data field in the list will display a code after its name signifying the parameters currently applied (Fig. 5). Review the parameters. If all are satisfactory, continue to the sorting procedure in Step 2.3. If editing is required, repeat Step 2.2.1.


Fig. 5 - sample review
 



To restore a field's parameters to its default selection, highlight the field name in the Select screen and click on the Reset command button.
 

2.3 Define the Sort order
Click on the 'Sort' tab. The 'Sort' screen (Fig. 6) displays the data fields used for sorting the indexed courses in the report. They are listed in the default sorting order as follows:
 
Department = the primary sort field
Course Code = the secondary sort field
 

Fig. 6
 
Sort Commands:
 
• Additional sorting fields may be added via the Add command button.
• A sorting field may be deleted by first selecting the field in the list and then clicking on the Delete command button
• The sorting order may be changed by shifting the position of a field in the list using the mover bar .
• The direction of a sort field (ascending or descending) may be edited by selecting the sort field from the list and     activating the Edit command.
 
For further instructions on defining the sort order of the report, see General Reporting Procedures, Steps 2.3-2.3.4
 
2.4 Resetting global defaults



Global default parameters for all the screens can be reset by clicking on the Reset All command button at the bottom of the main screen.
 
 

The customized or default report can be previewed at any time before actual printing by clicking on the Preview command button. An option to print the report is available when the Preview is exited. For further instructions on previewing reports, see General Reporting Procedures, Step 3
 

4. Print the report to printer or to a file

Click on the Print command button to print the report to a printer or to a file without previewing it. For further instructions on printing reports, see General Reporting Procedures, Step 4
 

5. Exit report

Click on the Quit command button to exit the report screen at any time.
 
 

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