Title: The use of Markov models in modelling students' flows in a multi-echelon educational system

Authors: Augustine A. Osagiede; Virtue U. Ekhosuehi

Addresses: Department of Mathematics, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria ' Department of Mathematics, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract: In modelling the educational process, discrete-time Markov chains are commonly used to provide a convenient framework to unify the states of the systems. This paper evaluates the use of discrete-time Markov chains in modelling the sequence of students' flow in the educational system. The motivations for the study emanate from the frequently observed non-equidistant transition durations in the educational system and the ill-posed problem in the discrete-time Markov chain in an attempt to recover the one-step transition matrix from the higher-order transition matrix. The strength and limitations of the existing methods are identified as well as some future research directions.

Keywords: student admission; discrete-time; Markov chain; multi-echelon educational systems; students flow processes; promotion; steady-state; stocks; transition matrix; wastage rates; modelling; student enrolment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOR.2013.053621

International Journal of Operational Research, 2013 Vol.17 No.2, pp.170 - 182

Published online: 29 Jul 2014 *

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