Search results for "outreach"
showing 10 items of 34 documents
Computer Science Outreach Workshop and Interest Development: A Longitudinal Study
2018
This longitudinal study investigates the impact of an extra-curricular programming workshop in student interest development in computer science. The workshop was targeted at 12–18-year old youngsters. A survey was sent to all previous participants with a known home address; 31.5% responded the survey (n = 197). This data was then combined with pre-workshop survey data, and analyzed with mixed methods. Positive development of interest was discovered for 57% of the respondents, of which nearly all attributed their interest increase to the workshop at least partly (92%). Qualitative inspection revealed that the workshop provided three anchors that facilitated students’ reengagement with progra…
What Explains Governance Structure in Non-Profit and For-Profit Microfinance Institutions?
2009
This paper aims to explain the choice of board and CEO characteristics in microfinance institutions (MFI). Explanations are sought in substitution or complementarity between the characteristics, external governance variables, and financial performance and outreach performance to the poor. The data are from 290 MFIs in 61 countries, and the logit regressions methodology is employed. The board and CEO characteristics are board size, CEO-chairman duality, international directors, and female CEO. We find relationships among these variables, and also that the external governance variables ownership type (shareholder owned) and international initialization induce smaller board, less duality, more…
Exploring Microfinance Clients with Disabilities: A Case Study of an Ecuadorian Microbank
2016
AbstractUsing a unique sample from an Ecuadorian microfinance institution that has focused on increasing its outreach to disabled clients, we present a comparative analysis of the characteristics of disabled versus non-disabled clients. The study shows that disabled clients are more often male, are less likely to be living with a partner, have fewer children, and are older compared to their non-disabled counterparts. Moreover, we observe differences in repayment statistics between clients with and without disabilities, as well as differences within the disability sample. Our findings illustrate the importance of adapting microloans to the special needs of persons with disabilities.
The recreational value of botanic garden events: A case study of the Zagara plant fair in Palermo, Italy
2022
Botanic gardens are defined by their mission to maintain living plant collections for scientific research, conservation, display and education. This mission represents the potential ecosystem services that botanic gardens aim to produce, with display and education specifically regarding recreational ecosystem services (RES). Visitors must directly experience botanic gardens to transform these potential RES into real benefits, yet the public may not be interested in studying plants during their leisure time. Thus, botanic gardens turn to events to attract visitors. The objective of this study is to estimate the RES benefits created by a botanic garden event and profile the visitors that it b…
Celebrating 100 Years of Musical Outreach in Scandinavia
2016
This article outlines the significant, but less investigated historical development of musical outreach; the professional symphony orchestras effort to introduce classical music to new audiences, especially children and adolescents. Many Norwegian symphony orchestras have held public concerts for 100 years and throughout this period they have set up strategic objectives regarding outreach. Through a series of musical examples from various concerts targeting new audiences, the article draws a historical overview of the different concepts of concerts that have developed from the early 1900s till today. In order to better understand the uniqueness of these concerts, and enable us to appreciate…
Hands-on optics and photonics outreach in Riga
2014
A long-term exposition focused on optics and photonics was created in Institute of Atomic Physics and Spectroscopy at University of Latvia in 2010. Considering unpopularity of science in Latvia and lack of broadly accessible hands-on outreach activities for school children, as well as rapid development of advanced photonic technologies, this exposition was meant to involve more students to the natural sciences and modern technologies. Exposition covers 10 topics of optics – colors, diffraction, interference, polarization, reflection, liquid crystals, gas discharge, lasers, fluorescence, infrared and ultraviolet radiation. Students' visits are organized as an exciting adventure, which differ…
Working to the conservation and good use of the Devonian palaeontological heritage in Floresta, Boyacá (Colombia): a review of teaching case studies …
2019
The Floresta Massif, located in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia, has a diverse and precious natural heritage. It is one of the areas that contains an exceptional palaeontological heritage of the Middle Devonian not only of Colombia, but also of South America. This heritage is represented by fossil specimens of marine fauna and terrestrial flora (correlated with North America and Europe) of the Floresta and Cuche Formations, respectively. Since 2004, actions made by several academic and research institutions, community and local government have introduced schoolchildren, teenagers and University students to art and science, and have promoted the conservation of palaeontological heritage a…
Board Composition and Outreach Performance of Microfinance Institutions: Evidence from East Africa
2015
The attributes of microfinance's board members have an impact on attainment of their social objectives.
Harassment charges: Injustice done?
2018
We are deeply concerned by the way in which our friend and colleague Professor Francisco Ayala has been forced to resign from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), after being accused of sexual harassment (“Prominent geneticist out at UC Irvine after harassment finding,” M. Wadman, News, 29 June, [https://scim.ag/AyalaResignation][1]). The charges that have been raised against him have had appalling consequences. Those of us who are well acquainted with Professor Ayala know that he is an honorable person, who throughout his career has treated his friends, co-workers, and students in a respectful, egalitarian way. His lifelong commitment to teaching, research, and outreach on biologica…
The palaeontological virtual collection of the University of Valencia’s Natural History Museum: a new tool for palaeontological heritage outreach
2019
The rise of new digitalization technologies is changing the way to access to the fossil collections for palaeontology outreach, providing new tools to preserve our important palaeontological heritage. In this sense, museums and palaeontological institutions,aware of the advantages of applying these new technologies for the accomplishment of their functions, have started to develop their own online repositories to facilitate the access to the most representative fossil of their collections. Following this trend, the aim of this work is to present the creation of the new “Virtual 3D Collection” of the University of Valencia’s Natural History Museum, showing, as an example, the “Ichnofossil Co…