AN EMPIRICAL-COMPARISON OF HEURISTIC METHODS FOR CREATING MAXIMALLY DIVERSE GROUPS

This research identifies, describes, and empirically contrasts five he uristics for forming maximally diverse groups of any specified size fr om a given population. Diversity is based upon multiple criteria speci fied by the decision maker. The problem has immediate application in a cademic or training settings where it may be desired to create class s ections, or project groups within classes, such that students are imme rsed in a diverse environment. Furthermore this research has an even b roader utility, as the problem is mathematically identical to an eclec tic set of applications ranging from final exam scheduling to VLSI des ign. Here we consider five different heuristics, drawn from student-wo rkgroup assignment and final exam scheduling applications. The methods are tested on a 'real-world' data set and evaluated on the criteria o f solution quality and computational resources.