Learning Abroad or Just Going Abroad? International Education In Opposite Sides of the Border

International education, particularly through study abroad experiences, has the potential of preparing students for a globally interconnected world. While challenging, it is necessary to translate aspirations of global citizenship into educational programs and assessing their effectiveness. A necessary step in such process consists in taking a close and critical look at the challenges and possibilities for the development of global citizenship through education abroad. In this paper, I follow a decolonizing autoethnographic approach to explore obstacles for the development of global citizenship through education abroad. If education abroad is to promote global citizenship and character development, I propose a more authentic engagement with the local culture s and a better understanding of globalization — before going abroad — is necessar

The decision-making process used by business angels and venture capitalists in Turkey and Colombia

06.03.2018 tarihli ve 30352 sayılı Resmi Gazetede yayımlanan “Yükseköğretim Kanunu İle Bazı Kanun Ve Kanun Hükmünde Kararnamelerde Değişiklik Yapılması Hakkında Kanun” ile 18.06.2018 tarihli “Lisansüstü Tezlerin Elektronik Ortamda Toplanması, Düzenlenmesi ve Erişime Açılmasına İlişkin Yönerge” gereğince tam metin erişime açılmıştır.Fon bulma tarihsel olarak girişimcilerin işlerini kurarken önemsedikleri en kritik alanlardan biri olmuştur. Yıllar boyunca, girişimciler tarafından başvurulan farklı fon bulma yoları yoğun olarak araştırmalara konu edilmiştir ancak Girişim Sermayesi ve Melek Yatırımcılar bu yolların arasındaki en göze çarpanları oluşturmaktadır. Bu tez, bu iki yatırımcı grubun temel prensiplerinin ve genel niteliklerinin ne olduğunu, yatırım süreçlerini nasıl yürüttüklerini, yatırım süreçlerinde dikkate aldıkları en önemli faktörlerin neler olduğunu ve nihai kararlarında yatırım fırsatının uluslararasılaşma kapasitesinin pozitif bir etkisinin olup olmadığını ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu araştırmanın önemi, özellikle Kolombiya ve Türkiye gibi ortaya çıkan olan ülkelerde yukarıda belirtilen sorulara yanıt arıyor olmasıdır. Yaklaşık olarak 45-60 dakika süren 8 yarı yapılandırılmış mülakat ile toplanan veriler sınıflandırılmış, analiz edilmiş ve içerik analizi yöntemi kullanılarak bulgular sunulmuştur. Soru seti sekiz tema altında oluşturulmuştur: genel sorular, yatırım süreci, gözden geçirme, yatırım fırsatının detaylı ele alınması ve değerlendirilmesi, anlaşmanın yapılandırılması, yatırım sonrası faaliyetler, çıkış stratejileri ve uluslararasılaşma kapasitesi. Elde edilen bulgulara göre, ortaya çıkan olan ülkelerde Girişim Sermayesi ve Melek Yatırımcıların oldukça benzer bir karar alma süreci izlediği görülmektedir. Melek Yatırımcıların yürüttüğü bir yatırım sürecinin, Girişim Sermayesinin yürüttüğüne kıyasla daha informel ve öznel faktörlere dayandığı söylenebilir. İkinci bir nokta da potansiyel yatırım fırsatlarını değerlendirirken en önemli kriter hem Girişim Sermayesi hem Melek Yatırımcılar için yönetim ekibi olduğu anlaşılmıştır. Son olarak, Girişim Sermayesi için bir girişimin uluslararasılaşma kapasitesi çok önemlidir ancak zorunlu olarak değerlendirilmezken Melek Yatırımcılar için bir girişimin uluslararasılaşma kapasitesi her açıdan zorunlu olarak görülmektedir.Funding has historically been one of the most critical areas considered by entrepreneurs while building their ventures up. Over the years, extensive research has been carried out in the distinctive funding sources appealed by entrepreneurs, however, the Venture Capital and the Business Angel investment stand out amongst them. This thesis aims to understand what the main guidelines and generalities of these two investors groups are, how the investment process is conducted, what the most relevant factors taken into account during the investment process are, and conclude on if the internationalization capacity of a venture positively impact the final investment decision given by Venture Capitalists and Business Angels. The relevance of this research goes beyond the limits as it profoundly responds to the above mentioned questions in emerging countries (specifically Colombia and Turkey). The content analysis was used to collect, group and analyze data coming from a total of 8 semi-structured interviews designed to last around 45-60 minutes. Questions were grouped to collect data in 8 specific areas of interest: Namely, General questions, Investment process, screening, deal screening and evaluation of the investment opportunities, deal structuring, post-investment activities, exit strategies, and internationalization capacity. According to the results, while it is true that VCs and BAs in emerging economies follow a quite similar making-decision process, it is safe to say, the one conducted by BAs is much more informal and based on subjective factors while compared with the one performed by VCs. Secondly, it seems the most important criterion while assessing potential investment opportunities is the management team for VCs as well as for BAs. Lastly, for VCs, the internationalization capacity of a venture is crucial yet not mandatory, conversely, for BAs, the internationalization capacity of a venture is mandatory from every point of view

Optimal Decision-Making under Uncertainty - Application to Power Transmission Investments

Economists define investment as the act of incurring immediate costs with the expectation of future returns. An investment project, as every asset has a value. For successfully investing in and managing these assets is crucial not only recognizing what the value is but also the sources of this value. Most investment decisions share three characteristics in different degrees. First, investments are partially or totally irreversible. Roughly speaking, the initial investment cost is at least partially sunk; i.e. it is impossible to recover all the expenditures if the decision-maker changes his mind. Second, there is uncertainty in the revenues from the investment, and therefore, risk associated with this. Third, all decision-making has some leeway about the timing of the investment. It is possible to defer the decision making to get more information about the future. These three features interact to determine the optimal decisions of investors on a given investment project. Transmission utilities are faced with investment projects, which hold these three characteristics: irreversibility, uncertainty and the choice of timing. In this context, an efficient decision making process is, therefore, based on managing the uncertainties and understanding the relationships between risks and opportunities in order to achieve a well-timed investment execution. Therefore, strategic flexibility for seizing opportunities and cutting losses contingent upon the market evolution is of huge value. Strategic flexibility is a risk management method that is gaining ongoing research attention as it enables properly managing major uncertainties, which are unsolved at the time of making decisions. Hence, valuing added flexibility in transmission investment portfolios, for instance, by investing in power electronic-based controller meanwhile transmission line projects are deferred, is necessary to make optimal network upgrading. Nevertheless, expressing the value of flexibility in economic terms is not a trivial task and requires new, sophisticated valuing tools, since the traditional investment theory has not recognized the important implications of the interaction between the three aforementioned investment features. Any attempt to quantify investment flexibility almost naturally leads to the concept of Real Options (RO). The RO technique provides a well-founded framework –based on the theory of financial options, and consequently, stochastic dynamic programming- to assess strategic investments under uncertainty. In the first RO applications, valuation was normally confined to the investment options that can be easily assimilated to financial options, for which solutions are well-known and readily available. Nevertheless, an investor confront with a diverse set of opportunities. From this point of view, investment projects can be seen as a portfolio of options, where its value is driven by several stochastic variables. The introduction of multiple interacting options into real options models highly increases the problem complexity, making traditional numerical approaches impracticable. However in the recent years, simulation procedures for solving multiple American options have been successfully proposed. One of the most promising approaches is the Least Square Monte Carlo (LSM) method proposed by Longstaff and Schwartz in 2001. LSM method is based on stochastic chronological simulation and uses least squares linear regression to determine the optimal stopping time (optimal path) in the decision making process. This chapter lays out a general background about key concepts -uncertainty and risk- and the most usual risk management techniques in transmission investment are provided. Then, the concept of strategic flexibility is introduced in order to set its ability for dealing with the uncertainties involved in the investment problem. In addition, new criteria and advantages of ROV approach compared with classical probabilistic choice are presented, by exposing a LSM-based method for decomposing and evaluating the complex real option problem involved in flexible transmission investments under uncertainties. The proposed methodology is applied in a study case which evaluates an interconnection reinforcement on the European interconnected power system, by showing how the valuation of flexibility is a key task for making efficient and well-timed investments in the transmission network. The impact of two network upgrades on the system-wide welfare is analyzed. These upgrades are the development of a new interconnected line and the installation of a power electronic-based controller. Both upgrades represent measures to strengthen the German-Dutch interconnections due to the fact that these are among the most important corridors within the Central Western European (CWE) region. Hence, an interconnection project, which is currently under study, is compared to flexible investment in order to shed some light on the influence of the strategic flexibility on the optimal decision-making process. The research is focused on assessing the impact of different wind power in-feed scenarios in detail as well as the uncertainty of the demand growth, generation cost evolution and the installed wind capacity on the decision-making process. The presented approach might serve as a basis for a decision-making tool for regulatory agencies in order to quantify the necessity for network upgrades.Fil: Blanco, Gerardo. Universidad Nacional de Asunción; ParaguayFil: Olsina, Fernando Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Energía Eléctrica; Argentin

Diseño de un curso de capacitación en Preparación Física, Municipio San Carlos, Cojedes

The design and application of a training course with current and specific topics of the physical preparation, based on the technology and principles of the formation of specialists, starting from the bank of necessities of training of the human resources, in coordination with the Sport University of the South, where an initial survey was applied, as well as test (positive, negative aspects and the interesting aspects), besides a survey of satisfaction to the students, they offer a real valuation of the impact caused by the course starting from all the imparted contents and the domain of the facilitators that imparted it.El diseño y aplicación de un curso de capacitación con temas actuales y específicos de la preparación física, fundamentado sobre las tecnología y principios de la formación de especialistas, a partir del banco de necesidades de capacitación de los recursos humanos, en coordinación con la Universidad Deportiva del Sur, donde se aplicó una encuesta inicial, así como test (aspectos positivos, negativos y los aspectos interesantes), además de una encuesta de satisfacción a los cursistas, ofrecen una valoración real del impacto causado por el curso a partir de todos los contenidos impartidos y el dominio de los facilitadores que lo impartieron

Concurrent Session, Warm Rooms in a Cold House: Campus Environments for Student Success

Participants will engage with findings and implications of two research projects that explore environments promoting academic and personal success among students of color in a Predominantly White Institution (PWI). These environments can be described as cultural counterspaces that, like the warm room in a cold house, provide alternative opportunities for students of color to be comfortable and supported within an otherwise challenging campus environment. Participants will identify key concepts, programs, and practices that promote the success of underrepresented students

Modelling of efficient distributed generation porfolios using a multiobjective optimization approach

In course of the German power system transition to a higher share of renewable energy sources decentralized activities constitute a major driving force for the growth of renewable en ergy capacity. In this context plural activities and initiatives on the local and regional level are followed to develop concepts for an efficient and sustainable regional energy supply. To achieve these goals various objectives has to be simultaneously accom plished. Generally, these objectives contradict to each other and cannot be handled by a single optimization technique. This paper proposes a multiobjective (MO) optimization approach for iden tifying efficient DG generation portfolios regarding multiple ob jectives. The methodology presented allows the planner to decide the best trade-off between the self-supply degree, environmental impact and electricity generation cost. The proposal applies, in a study case, a MO genetic algorithm that allows identifying a set of non-inferior Pareto-optimal solutions.CONACYT - Consejo Nacional de Ciencias y TecnologíaPROCIENCI

Long-term assessment of power capacity incentives by modeling generation investment dynamics under irreversibility and uncertainty

In actual energy-only markets, the high volatility of power prices affects the expected returns of generators. When dealing with irreversibility under uncertainty, deferring decisions to commit in new power plants, waiting for better information, is therefore a rational approach. Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that such investment pattern determines the occurrence of construction cycles, which strongly compromise supply security. In order to supplement generators´ revenues, several remuneration mechanisms have been devised over past years. Along this line, this work addresses the long-run dynamics of capacity adequacy and market efficiency with both a price-based and a quantity-based capacity remuneration policy. For that purpose, a recently-developed, stochastic simulation model is used as a benchmark. Hence, the optimal postponement of generation investment decisions is integrated into a long-run power market model by formulating the decision-making problem in the framework of Real Options Analysis. Results suggest that policymakers may exchange supply security (effectiveness) for energy prices to be paid by consumers (efficiency) when designing and implementing capacity remuneration mechanisms. By doing so, this article contributes to the ongoing debate regarding the design of incentive policies and efficient power markets by considering the microeconomics of investors? decision-making under irreversibility and uncertainty.Fil: Rios Festner, Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Asunción; ParaguayFil: Blanco, Gerardo. Universidad Nacional de Asunción; ParaguayFil: Olsina, Fernando Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Instituto de Energía Eléctrica. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Energía Eléctrica; Argentin