Centennial Hills Active Adult Center business plan

The economic indicators for the state of Nevada indicate a bleak financial future. The foreclosure rate of the Las Vegas Valley is five times the national average and the highest rate in the country (Hoak, 2010). Sales tax revenues continue spiraling down and fell by 6.6 percent in December 2009 from December 2008 (Garcia, 2010). State politicians face an estimated budget deficit of $3.5 billion. Local conditions are equally dire. The City of Las Vegas faces a budget shortfall of nearly$69 million for this fiscal year (Choate, 2010). City administrators struggle to find creative solutions to fill financial gaps and must make difficult decisions to reduce, consolidate or eliminate services and programs. The city’s Department of Leisure Services is no exception and administrators are examining ways to make fiscal cuts to the unit’s budget and increase efficiency. The department, which strives to bolster residents’ quality of life, provides services to all Las Vegans and has programs specifically targeting youth, seniors, and low-income families. The department has historically operated under what staff members describe as a social model, making decisions that maximize access without looking at data or efficiency. In light of current fiscal concerns, they hope to make the switch to a business enterprise model of operations that will maximize efficiency and allow for a focus on cost recovery that does not price out Las Vegans from utilizing services. To assist with city administrators’ aspirations to increase cost recovery throughout the department, this paper examines the fiscal and operational challenges at one of six Las Vegas senior centers in an effort to gauge the price elasticity of demand for services. Based on qualitative and quantitative data, the authors crafted seven recommendations to help the Centennial Hills Active Adult Center (CHAAC) create a business plan that allows for the cost recovery of at least 15% of its operational expenses. Those recommendations consist of the following: a change in pricing; increased emphasis on data collection and marketing; more efficient scheduling; an emphasis on seeking alternative funding; the development of a strategic plan for the center to include specific goals, objectives and performance measurements; a review of the center’s relationship to the YMCA; and increased transportation to and from the center. These recommendations will ensure the seniors of Las Vegas have an opportunity for a continuing relationship with the leisure services department. The authors hope this research may assist city officials in the months to come as they deliberate difficult decisions that will impact thousands of Las Vegas seniors and help administrators protect vital services

Enhancing Precalculus Curricula with E-Learning: Implementation and Assessment

During Fall semester of 2007, a semester-long, quasi-experimental study was conducted at Boise State University to investigate the effectiveness of a systematically sequenced and managed, self-paced e-learning activity on improving students’ academic performance and motivation. A total of 125 students enrolled in 3 different sections of a Precalculus class participated in the study. The e-learning activity was implemented in 2 of the 3 sections as a required homework assignment. Students enrolled in one of the 2 selected sections were all engineering majors. The 3rd section was a control group that did not use the e-learning activity. A pre-test, measuring students’ entry-knowledge levels, was administered at the beginning of the semester, and a posttest was administered at the end of the semester. Students’ learning styles were measured with the Gregorc Style Delineator™. Then, the relationships among the students’ learning styles, their academic performance, and self-regulated studying behaviors such as the number of hours they spent on weekly e-learning homework assignments were investigated. This study revealed that using an e-learning activity as a homework assignment improved students’ knowledge in Precalculus about the same as did traditional homework that was collected, graded and returned daily. Moreover, we found that different types of learning styles were associated with different degrees of knowledge improvement in Precalculus. Several recommendations on instructional strategies related to students’ learning styles are discussed

‘Seeding a Lead’: Exploring the Live Theatre Industry’s Reception of a Pre-Market Canadian Display Technology

This article shares the results of a research project conducted by a multidisciplinary group formed from theatre studies, digital media, and business and technology in 2009. The research story is an unusual one for the theatre. It features access to pre-market digital display technologies for play-making, a combination of industry and federal research funding support, and a combination of artistic and business interrogation of primary stakeholders in the live theatre, its culturally-networked industries, and theatre education communities

Improving Students\u27 Learning in Precalculus with E-Learning Activities and Through Analyses of Student Learning Styles and Motivational Characteristics

During the spring semester of 2008, a quasi-experimental study with 138 students who were enrolled in 4 sections of an undergraduate Precalculus class was conducted. The study investigated (1) the effectiveness of using a systematically sequenced and managed, self-paced e-learning program, ALEKS, on academic performance of students with different learning styles, and (2) the relationship among the students’ dominant learning styles, motivational characteristics, and overall performance in the Precalculus class. Students in the experimental group, consisting of 2 of the 4 sections of the course, were assigned to complete ALEKS as homework assignments throughout the semester. Students in the control group, consisting of the other 2 sections of the course, completed a series of traditional paper-and-pencil homework assignments instead. Students’ dominant learning styles were measured by Gregorc Style Delineator™. Their motivational orientations and learning strategies were measured with the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. A pre-test and a post-test, measuring students’ entry- and exit-knowledge levels in Precalculus, were administered in both experimental and control groups at the beginning and at the end of the semester. This study revealed that sequential-type students who used ALEKS outperformed sequential-type students who completed handout homework assignments and random-type students who used ALEKS or handout homework assignments by one letter grade, although this difference was not statistically significant. Several instructional implications related to students’ learning styles, motivational characteristics, and academic performance are discussed. Especially, students with a dominant abstract-random style may need more tailored learning support to be more successful in a Precalculus class