Percentage Of Visitors Research Articles

Facilitators Improve the Learning Experience of Visitors to a Science Centre

We studied how interactions with interpretative science centre staff impacts the learning behaviours and engagement levels of visitors who engage with exhibits at Science North (Sudbury, Canada). This study uses the Visitor-Based Learning Framework. The tool consists of seven discrete learning-associated behaviours that visitors show when engaging with exhibits, which are grouped into three categories of engagement: Initiation, Transition, and Breakthrough. These categories reflect increasing levels of engagement and depth of the learning experience. We studied forty-seven Science North exhibits, and 4,835 visitors to analyse the impact of unstructured facilitation in a naturalistic setting. We compared visitor Engagement Levels with and without a facilitator present. We determined that the presence of staff has a statistically significant impact on the percentage of visitors that engage in Breakthrough behaviours. When a facilitator is present, more visitors reach the Breakthrough Level of Engagement (p < 0.001). In the second phase of the study, we explored what facilitators do and say through thematic analysis to uncover common patterns of facilitator actions and comments. Our findings showed that facilitators employed strategies and methods that can be grouped in four categories or Facilitation Dimensions: Comfort, Information, Reflection, and Exhibit Use. These dimensions encompass different strategies and techniques of facilitation, that are used in a variety of situations and sequences. Our study goes beyond anecdotal evidence to show that staff-visitor interactions have a positive impact on visitor engagement with exhibits and therefore, potentially on visitor learning from exhibits. Our findings can be used to inform not only training programs but also managerial decisions and considerations around resource allocation. We suggest that facilitators are a fundamental asset for institutions that prioritize visitor engagement, one that should be given top priority when considering areas for investing.

Integration of Web Analytics Into Graduate Medical Education: Usability Study.

BackgroundWeb analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of website and web application usage data. While common in the e-commerce arena, web analytics is underutilized in graduate medical education (GME).ObjectiveThe University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Department of Surgery website was revamped with input from in-house surgeons in August 2017. This study investigated the use of web analytics to gauge the impact of our department’s website redesign project.MethodsGoogle Analytics software was used to measure website performance before and after implementation of the new website. Eight-month matched periods were compared. Factors tracked included total users, new users, total sessions, sessions per user, pages per session, average session duration, total page views, and bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who visit a site and then leave [ie, bounce] without continuing to another page on the same site).ResultsAnalysis using a nonpaired Student t test demonstrated a statistically significant increase for total page views (before vs after: 33,065 vs 81,852; P<.001) and decrease for bounce rate (before vs after: 50.70% vs 0.23%; P<.001). Total users, new users, total sessions, sessions per user, and pages per session showed improvement. The average session duration was unchanged. Subgroup analysis showed that after the main page, the next 3 most frequently visited pages were related to GME programs in our department.ConclusionsWeb analytics is a practical measure of a website’s efficacy. Our data suggest that a modern website significantly improves user engagement. An up-to-date website is essential for contemporary GME recruitment, will likely enhance engagement of residency applicants with GME programs, and warrants further investigation.

Practice of dispensing antimicrobial medicines from community pharmacies

Abstract Background Inappropriate use of antimicrobial medicines is one of the main causes of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The objective of this work was to study the situation on dispensing antimicrobials from pharmacy outlets in Armenia. Methods The study was implemented in 30 community pharmacies from different regions of Yerevan. Medicines dispensed to 900 patients/caregivers (30 visitors in each pharmacy outlet) were analyzed. The following indicators were calculated: the percentage of antimicrobials prescribed by physicians, the percentage of visitors, who got antimicrobials without providing a prescription and so on. Results Antimicribials (n = 171) consisted 11.3% of all the dispensed medicines (N = 1513). Only 25 (14.6%) antimicrobials were dispensed to visitors who had prescriptions. Only 19 (12.6%) of 151 medicines provided without prescription were OTC-medicines, other 132 (87.4%) were prescription only medicines. According to information received from visitors, 58.5% of all dispensed antimicrobials were selected by physicians, 10.5% of antimicrobials were advised by pharmacists and almost one third was selected by patients, family members, etc. More than 90% of the total number of visitors, whom antimicrobials were dispensed, got them without providing a prescription. 13 patients received 2 and more antimicrobials. Conclusions Many prescription only antimicrobials are dispensed from community pharmacies without prescription and some medicines are not prescribed by physicians. That means many antimicrobials are used inappropriately. There is need in strategy that could prevent dispensing antimicrobials without prescription. Key messages Dispensing prescription only antimicrobials without prescription can compromise rational use of medicines. Professional knowledge and public awareness about AMR should be improved.

Mixed pricing strategies in museums: Examining the potential of voluntary contributions for capturing consumer surplus

Existing pricing strategies at museums rarely reflect actual market demand. This article compares willingness to pay with paid entrance fees to establish consumer surplus and investigates whether voluntary contributions can serve to capture part of this surplus. A donation box is tested under various design experiments to identify best-performing contribution mechanisms. The proposed method is tested at the New Zealand Maritime Museum, with data collected via an intercept visitor survey and through electronic donation box counters. While the results indicate the existence of a significant consumer surplus, practically none of this surplus was gathered via voluntary contributions, and under normal circumstances less than 1% of museum visitors offered a donation. An animated donation box increased donations to 2% but remained well below the percentage of visitors that claimed to have a positive consumer surplus. The findings conclude that pay-what-you-want principles seem to have limited potential in mixed pricing strategy environments.

Aura: Designing Strategy and Status in Saudi Arabia

This case gives students the opportunity to explore the concept of organizational status as a competitive asset. CEO Noura Abdullah of Saudi furniture retailer Aura founded her company as a middle-market furniture and home goods store offering affordable yet design-savvy products. By many accounts, both tangible and intangible, Aura had been a success. By late 2014, Aura had drawn considerable attention from several high-status Saudi wedding planners and media outlets, including Harper's Bazaar Interiors, Elle Decor, and Martha Stewart Weddings. This attention yielded unusually strong conversion rates (the percentage of visitors to the store who made a purchase). Foot traffic, on the other hand, remained unexpectedly low, leading Abdullah to wonder whether the high-status affiliations had unintentionally signaled to mid-market consumers that they would not be able to afford Aura's products, keeping such customers away. Students will decide, along with Abdullah, how to handle this unique “problem” as Aura enters a growth phase to other Saudi and Middle Eastern markets.

Norovirus Outbreak Associated With a Natural Lake Used for Recreation—Oregon, 2014

Norovirus Outbreak Associated With a Natural Lake Used for Recreation—Oregon, 2014

Non-Consumptive Activities on a Public Hunting and Fishing Area

The activities of all 1513 individuals who visited a public hunting and fishing area near Spearfish, South Dakota, USA, were recorded from May 16 to August 16, 2006. Over the entire period, slightly less than 60% of the visitors were engaged in fishing, and they accounted for nearly 80% of the total visitation time. Over 40% of the visitors were primarily there for non-consumptive (not hunting or fishing) reasons, including touring (sight-seeing), dog training and exercising, and swimming. Less than 1% of the visitors were there for photography. The percentage of visitors fishing decreased from a high of over 65% in the first 31-day period to less than 50% in the third 31-day period, with nearly all of the non-consumptive activities showing a reverse trend. The percentage of visitors swimming or conducting dog activities doubled from the first to third periods. The percentage of time that visitors spent fishing decreased over time, while the time spent on non-consumptive activities increased. However, the increase in non-consumptive activity time was not necessarily in proportion to the increase in the number of visitors involved with non-consumptive activities. By the final period, more visitors were at the area for touring, dogs, and swimming, than for fishing, but fishing still accounted for most of the visitation time. These results indicate an abundance of non-consumptive activities on a public area purchased and maintained with revenue from consumptive hunting and fishing activities, creating the opportunity for user conflicts and potentially threatening the user-pay model of natural resource conservation.

Application of Carrying Capacity Approach to Beach Management in Kuwait using Orthophoto &amp; Ground Survey

The aim of this study was to investigate the concept of Carrying Capacity (CC) as a tool for beach management in Kuwait through focusing on two public beaches (Al-Shuwaikh and Green Island beaches). A geodatabase has been built up and GIS maps were prepared for each single beach that included the land use map and density distribution of visitors produced by aerial photography (year 2004) and ground survey. Data on the environmental quality of the coastal water at these beaches as well as information on the perception of visitors through visitor’s interviews were collected and analyzed. The CC maps produced for both beaches revealed that visitors› distribution was not uniform across the beaches. High density zones were concentrated at the intertidal areas, the sports and children playgrounds and the greenery areas on the beaches and represented the highest pressure of use in comparison to the total area of the studied beaches. Moreover, results of visitor’s perception revealed the importance given by the beach users to both the occupancy area and the distance between each group of people when visiting the beach. Such factors are important when determining the CC of the beach and should be considered, in order to come up with a realistic CC and better management of these beaches. Comparison between the two studied beaches revealed some differences as related to their carrying capacity. It has been shown that the percentage of visitors to Al-Shuwaikh beach was greater than the Green Island beach and the visitors› distribution was different too. This was related to a number of reasons including the availability of more services and leisure activities on this beach and the relatively easier access to the sea through intertidal areas in addition to the proximity and convenience of Al-Shuwaikh beach to the residential area located to the north of Kuwait city.

Exhibit Design and Visitor Behavior

Measurements of visitor behavior were collected at selected exhibits in 13 zoos throughout the United States. Percentage of visitors who stopped at each exhibit and the duration of visitor viewing time were obtained at exhibits of various species. Visitor behavior was found to correlate with both the characteristics of animals (animal activity, size of species, presence of infant) and the architectural characteristics of the exhibits (presence of visually competing exhibits, proximity of visitor to animal, visibility of animals, physical features of the exhibit). These finding have several implications for designing zoo exhibits.