Expectations of Executive MBAs

Currently there are over 200 EMBA programs worldwide. These programs have grown in popularity and have increased by over a third in the last three years. Overall, schools are aggressively marketing their EMBA programs, and, as a consequence, prospective EMBA participants have numerous options for EMBA program enrollment. To successfully compete in the current environment, EMBA programs must understand and market to the expectations of prospective EMBAs. This paper explores the suitability of using the Teaching Goals Inventory (TGI) developed by Angelo and Cross (1993) as an instrument to analyze the expectations of EMBA candidates in the United States and describes the results of a survey of 262 EMBA participants using the TGI

Analyzing E.M.B.A. Student Feedback

The results of an executive Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program assessment are analyzed and interpreted against the backdrop of increasing competition between universities to attract and retain qualified students. The public education environment is currently in a turbulent state. This turbulence is in part caused by such factors as: reductions in public funding for higher education due to constrained state budgets, student expectations, requirements imposed by accrediting bodies, and other outside constituencies requesting more accountability. The pressure to hold education institutions accountable is increasing at a rapid rate. To provide a measure of accountability and quantify program quality, education institutions have placed a great deal of emphasis on program assessment. Informational results from program assessments influence a myriad of decisions made by many that ultimately impact student enrollment, program support and program funding. Despite questionable psychometric properties and potentially conflicting outcomes, student evaluations of teaching faculty continue to be a primary source of information used in program assessments. This burdens educators and administrators with the task of interpreting and utilizing incomplete and perhaps inaccurate information. Results indicate that student response rates decline with increased numbers of evaluations and influences on teaching quality assessments may be unrelated to content and presentation

U.S. and Romanian Executive MBA Students: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Currently, there are over 260 EMBA programs worldwide with approximately 180 programs resident in the United States. The number of programs available for EMBA students has increased competition for those students. One characteristic of this increased competition between EMBA programs is the addition of global initiatives to expose students to other cultures. Part of this global initiative has resulted in alliances and the establishment of working relationships between educational institutions. To facilitate and enhance the learning experience while in an EMBA program these alliances should consider the impact culture plays in shaping student expectations. This paper addresses the question of whether or not EMBA students, regardless of country of origin, have similar learning expectations or is there a cultural dimension that would impact their respective expectations? To answer this question a survey was administered to U.S. and Romanian EMBA students. This paper will analyze and describe the results of that survey

Deep Electrical Resistivity Tomography for the Hydrogeological Setting of Muro Lucano Mounts Aquifer (Basilicata, Southern Italy)

The proposed work concerns the application of a deep geoelectrical survey to a carbonate aquifer in order to define the best location for exploitation well drilling for increasing water supply. However, an optimal characterization of a groundwater resource is the necessary condition to reach the indicated aim. Therefore, the geoelectrical investigation was guided from the previous geological and hydrogeological characterization. Moreover, geophysical methods are good tools to improve the groundwater model when detailed information is necessary, such as the localization of a pumping well. The work summarizes the hydrogeological knowledge at the West of the Basilicata Region (Muro Lucano, Italy). The investigated area is characterized by the presence of a karst aquifer which is made up of a carbonate ridge (Castelgrande, Muro Lucano) that tectonically dips southward and is widely covered by Pliocene deposits (sands and conglomerates), by the Irpinian unit and Sicilide unit formations, and by debris slope and landslide deposits. The assessment of the complex hydrogeological framework of the area was detailed by the use of a new multichannel deep geoelectrical technique (DERT). In details, the proposed technique was able to successfully locate a less resistive zone connected to a more fractured limestone and then it was suitable for the localization of a groundwater exploitation well

U.S. and Romanian Executive MBA Students: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Currently, there are over 260 EMBA programs worldwide with approximately 180 programs resident in the United States. The number of programs available for EMBA students has increased competition for those students. One characteristic of this increased competition between EMBA programs is the addition of global initiatives to expose students to other cultures. Part of this global initiative has resulted in alliances and the establishment of working relationships between educational institutions. To facilitate and enhance the learning experience while in an EMBA program these alliances should consider the impact culture plays in shaping student expectations. This paper addresses the question of whether or not EMBA students, regardless of country of origin, have similar learning expectations or is there a cultural dimension that would impact their respective expectations? To answer this question a survey was administered to U.S. and Romanian EMBA students. This paper will analyze and describe the results of that survey

Potentialities of a Low Temperature Solar Heating System Based on Slurry Phase Change Materials (PCS)

Flat-plate solar thermal collectors are the most common devices to convert solar energy into heat. Water-based fluids are commonly adopted as heat carrier for this technology, although their efficiency is limited by some thermodynamic and heat storage constraints. To overcome some of these limitations, an innovative approach is the use of latent heat, which can be available by means of microencapsulated slurry PCMs (mixtures of microencapsulated Phase Change Materials, water and surfactants). The viscosity of these fluids is similar to that of water and they can be easily pumped. In the present work, some of the thermo-physical and rheological properties and material behaviour that interest flat-plate solar thermal collectors with slurry PCM as the heat carrier fluid are analysed. Concepts of solar thermal systems filled with a slurry phase change material are proposed and a prototypal system is presented. Possible advantages and drawbacks of this technology are also discussed

A data-driven energy platform: from energy performance certificates to human-readable knowledge through dynamic high-resolution geospatial maps

The energy performance certificate (EPC) is a document that certifies the average annual energy consumption of a building in standard conditions and allows it to be classified within a so-called energy class. In a period such as this, when greenhouse gas emissions are of considerable importance and where the objective is to improve energy security and reduce energy costs in our cities, energy certification has a key role to play. The proposed work aims to model and characterize residential buildings’ energy efficiency by exploring heterogeneous, geo-referenced data with different spatial and temporal granularity. The paper presents TUCANA (TUrin Certificates ANAlysis), an innovative data mining engine able to cover the whole analytics workflow for the analysis of the energy performance certificates, including cluster analysis and a model generalization step based on a novel spatial constrained K-NN, able to automatically characterize a broad set of buildings distributed across a major city and predict different energy-related features for new unseen buildings. The energy certificates analyzed in this work have been issued by the Piedmont Region (a northwest region of Italy) through open data. The results obtained on a large dataset are displayed in novel, dynamic, and interactive geospatial maps that can be consulted on a web application integrated into the system. The visualization tool provides transparent and human-readable knowledge to various stakeholders, thus supporting the decision-making process

Alternativas para el manejo sanitario de Aedes aegypti en Áreas Urbanas

La Facultad de Agronomía de la Universidad de Morón, desde el año 1984, realiza trabajos de relevamiento sobre organismos perjudiciales y benéficos. A. aegypti, es un importante vector de enfermedades que afectan a la población de la mayoría de los países de América. En este trabajo se realizó una recopilación bibliográfica y pruebas preliminares relacionadas con el mosquito y su control buscando un mayor conocimiento de su comportamiento a campo en el área local y de alternativas al control químico. Se realizó en primer lugar una búsqueda bibliográfica tendiente a conocer las principales características de la especie, entre ellas, morfología, biología, etología, formas de monitoreo y control. Con la información obtenida, se analizaron las características del mosquito a fin de determinar las estrategias y tácticas posibles, priorizando el bajo costo, simplicidad de uso y disponibilidad de los elementos seleccionados. En segundo lugar se buscó conocer y evaluar alternativas que se probaran en el terreno para el manejo del A. aegypti en los ámbitos urbanos del partido de Morón y zonas de influencia. Se trabajó a campo con ovitrampas evaluando entre otros, los recipientes, sustratos y colores. Por otra parte, se realizaron diferentes jornadas de divulgación junto con personal del Centro Municipal de Salud Animal del Municipio de Morón. Adicionalmente, se brindaron charlas informativas al personal del Hospital Italiano de San Justo, la Universidad de Morón y huerteros del Centro Demostrativo de San Justo, Como resultado de la revisión bibliográfica, y de las entrevistas realizadas, se propuso desarrollar ovitrampas que resultaran letales tanto para los adultos como para los huevos y larvas que se pudieran desarrollar en las mismas. Del mismo modo se destacó el interés y la necesidad de trabajar en la evaluación de sustancias naturales con propiedades insecticidas como un complemento de las ovitrampas letales

Integrated Geophysical Techniques for Archaeological Remains: Real Cases and Full Scale Laboratory Examples

The increasing interest in preserving of the archaeological sites requires the integration of a wide spectra of geophysical methodologies for field measurements. In fact, archaeological investigations need multidisciplinary studies to characterize the physical properties of near-surface. In this context, the integration of electromagnetic techniques seems to be one of the most suitable tools. The most suitable geophysical investigation techniques employed for archaeological purposes are the geomagnetic, GPR and resistivity/conductivity (DC and EM) methods. These techniques are not invasive and allow us to obtain high resolution images of subsurface, even if their use is dependent on site and resolution. In general, geomagnetic and EM methods are more adaptive for large survey, in order to obtain fast results with low resolution. On the contrary, GPR shows high resolution information, but for the heavy data process is adapt for small survey areas. The DC methods are not common then the previous ones, but their contribute is important above all in urban area. Anyway, the integration of different geophysical techniques is the best way for field measurements to identify the remains, because each geophysical technique has the ability to define a variation of the physical parameters (electrical conductivity, magnetic susceptibility, dielectric permittivity) which is able to highlight some pattern of the buried object. This kind of approach was applied in several archaeological site. Moreover, the geophysical contrast between archaeological features and surrounding soils sometimes are difficult to define due to problems of sensitivity and resolution related on the subsoil characteristics and limits of geophysical methods. The results obtained in real and laboratory study cases based on archaeogeophysical approach are here discussed