INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING EXHIBITION GAUDEAMUS® 2010

The 3rd edition of the Education and Lifelong Learning Exhibition Gaudeamus® 2010 was held in the Krizik exhibition halls E and D of the showground in Prague from the 26th to the 27th January 2010.

The aim of the Exhibition Gaudeamus® in Prague was to provide information about study possibilities at higher schools, universities, colleges and language schools. The Exhibition Gaudeamus® was intended for students and graduates of grammar schools, higher schools, colleges and visitors interested in lifelong learning.

The universities, colleges, higher schools, language schools and educational institutions from the Czech Republic and from 15 other countries were represented at the exhibition.

Exhibitor's Structure

The exhibition included 140 independent exhibitors (+39 compared to 2009), as you can see in the chart 1 and diagrams 1 and 2.

Diagram 1


Diagram 2

Organization of the Exhibition

Organization of the exhibition was guaranteed by the company MP-Soft®, a.s., Brno, and Brno University of Technology represented by rector Prof.Ing. Karel Rais, CSc., MBA. Brno University of Technology, represented by Prof. Ing. Jan M. Honzík, CSc., the expert for European cooperation in education, was the professional guarantor and academic counsellor of the exhibition. Dipl. Ing. Pavel Mikula, the president of MP-Soft®, a.s. Brno, was the organizational guarantor.

The Exhibition’s Course

The 3rd edition of the Gaudeamus® exhibition was held in the exhibition halls E and D of the Holesovice Showground in Prague. There were exhibitor’s booths in the exhibition hall E and the lecture theatre and the information service for students were located in the exhibition hall D. The exhibition was opened for the public daily from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., from the 26th to the 27th January 2010.

The first day of the exhibition was culminated by a social evening and discussion meeting of exhibition participants, which took place in the hotel Expo next to the showground. Rectors of universities and colleges and other guests of honor took part of the social evening.

Attendance of the Exhibition

The exhibition was held at the Prague’s Exhibition Ground in Holesovice as a separate action so we could find out the accurate number of visitors. The actual attendance was 7 204 visitors. The education specialist had the possibility to register in advance on the website www.gaudeamus.cz at the exhibition. The students had the same possibility and 1816 of them used it. The distribution of attendance into individual days is presented in the chart 2. There were 836 more visitors compared to the number of visitors in 2009, it is 13.1 % more than in 2009.

The attendance distribution into individual days for the past three years is presented in the chart 3.

The Survey among the Visitors of Lectures

During the 3rd edition of the Gaudeamus® exhibition in Prague the statistical survey was carried out among the visitors, as it was done during the previous editions. The enquiry was made in the form of a prize draw. 20.1 % (1 450 visitors) of the total number of visitors filled in the raffle tickets and returned them for drawing. Detailed results are shown in the following charts.

The chart 4 and the diagram 3 show the representation of individual target groups within the total exhibition attendance.

The chart 5 contains the data concerning the regional distribution of attendance. Visitors came from all regions of the Czech Republic; there were representatives of 256 towns in total it was an excellent result.

Diagram 3

Statistical Survey among the Visitors

Apart from standard compiled data, which are stated in charts 1 to 5, information regarding the students focuses in choosing their future studies and their criteria were gathered. The students answered the following questions:

1. I would like to choose the subject belonging to the group:

• Social Science
• Engineering
• Economics
• Education (Teaching)
• Art
• Management
• Law
• Languages
• Medicine
• Computer Science
• Natural Science
• Mathematics - physics
• Sporting
• Other

The students could tick off one or more of the listed subjects, which they would like to study at a university or college. 1 450 students were addressed of the total number of 7 204 visitors. Result (percentage) of the survey is shown in the chart 6 and the diagram 4. The chart 6 includes values from 2008, 2009 and 2010. The diagram 4 shows only the situation in 2010.

Diagram 4

2. What kind of study would you prefer?

• Bachelor's degree
• Bachelor's degree with possible follow-up Master's degree
• Master's degree (follow-up)
• Master's degree (long)
• Higher professional school
• Other

Students could tick off which degree they would like to acquire. 1 450 students were addressed of the total number of 7 204 visitors. Result (percentage) of the survey is shown in the chart 7 and the diagram 5. The chart 7 includes values from 2008, 2009 and 2010. The diagram 5 shows only the situation in 2010.

Diagram 5

3. Put in order the factors, which influence you in your choice of your further studies:

• Salary
• Employment prospects
• Preceding education
• Job status
• Personal predisposes (skills and interests)

Students could give a mark in the range from 1 to 5 (1 - the most, 5 the least) expressing the importance of the factor. 1 450 students were addressed of the total number of 7 204 visitors. Result (averages of marks) of the survey is shown in the chart 8 and the diagram 6. Columns contain arithmetical average of marks for each criterion. The chart 8 includes values from 2008, 2009 and 2010. The diagram 5 shows only the situation in 2010.

Diagram 6

The students are mostly interested in social sciences, management and languages. They prefer Bachelor's degree with possible follow-up Master's degree. The biggest influence on their decision is personal predispositions, job status and salary.

Target Groups and Their Characteristics

During the 3rd edition of the Gaudeamus® exhibition in Prague a statistical survey was conducted. The aim of the survey was to determine the characteristics of visiting target groups. The same survey was done during the exhibition Gaudeamus® in Brno 2009. 375 visitors under the age of 25 were addressed, from which 84% were female and 16% were male.


Diagram 7

The diagram 7 shows the age spectrum of visitors. The most numerous group was visitors between 18 and 22 years of age, these are senior year high school students. The result is same as the result from the exhibition Gaudeamus® in Brno 2009.

The diagram 8 shows which schools did the visitors come from. The main target groups were students of grammar schools and high professional schools. Students of higher professional schools, training institutions along with bachelor and master students make up only 8% of total attendance.


Diagram 8

The next question of the survey was why the students decided to visit the exhibition. The result of the survey shows that the students see the exhibition as an important source of information and decided to visit it themselves, see diagram 9.


Diagram 9

The next question was to find out where the students found the information about the exhibition. The results confirm the right usage of marketing methods during the promotion of the exhibition, see diagram 10. The biggest accent is put on the propagation of the exhibition trough the individual schools, by sending packages of promotional materials and by communication with schools educational consultants. This also shows to be a most effective method of providing information about the exhibition to students.


Diagram 10

We wanted to know how the students are ambitious and responsible during their attendance of the exhibition. The question was if the students came to the exhibition with an aim to find out their future study. 99% of students answered positively. Only 1% of students had different reasons.

The next questions were to find out whether the school was involved in organization of the students visit at the exhibition; and if the students had enough time to obtain enough information about their future study. The questions were:

• Did you come alone or with an organized group?
• Do you have enough time for visit of the exhibition?
• What would be the optimal time for the visit of the exhibition?

71% of addressed visitors came to the exhibition by themselves and 29% of addressed visitors with an organized group from their school see diagram 11.


Diagram 11

The students who came with an organized group were asked whether they have been provided with enough time to see the exhibition. All students answered positively. The aim of this question was find out whether the educational advisors gave students enough time to see the exhibition.

The students who came alone were asked what, in their opinion, is the optimal amount of time to see the exhibition. The students consider 2-4 hours as optimal amount of time to visit the exhibition, see diagram 12.


Diagram 12

The next two questions were concerning the lectures during the exhibition. Whether the students attended any of the lectures and why did they do so. The aim of the survey was to find out the attitude of students towards the lecture. 53% of students attended some of the lectures and 47% did not, see diagram 13.

This also shows that the number of students who actually attend the lectures is much bigger than the number of filled in coupons.


Diagram 13

The students who attended the lectures were asked about the reason of their attendance. 99% of them attended the lectures with the aim to gain information about their future study.

We also wanted to know whether the visit of the exhibition was successful for the students, so we asked two other questions. The first question was: “Are you looking for the concrete school or field of study?” 61% of students came to the exhibition with concrete idea about their future study and they were looking for a school, see diagram 14.


Diagram 14

The second question was whether the students found their future study at the exhibition. Most of students did not find their future study and the visit was not successful for them, see diagram 15.


Diagram 15

There is an increasing interest in Gaudeamus® exhibition by exhibitors from abroad; we also asked the students how they feel about studying abroad and in which country. 59% of students would like to study abroad. Diagram 16 presents the most preferred countries.


Diagram 16

The Exhibitor's Lecturers during the Exhibition

The lecture theatre was a part of the standard exhibition facilities. The theatre seated 120 people. The lecture theatre was located in the exhibition hall D and was equipped with a quality sound system, an overhead projector, a data-video projector and computers for presentation projection. The lectures were given by qualified representatives of participating schools.

The total attendance was higher than 1 450 visitors (20.1% of the total number). Only visitors who filled in a ticket and returned it to the organizers were counted. That is why we can only estimate the real number of lecture participants.

After each lecture, the organizers drew lots and drew out the names of 5 participants, who then got prizes with the exhibition logo or prizes donated by the participating schools. The first drawn person was given the most valuable prize, the others got umbrellas, mugs with logo of exhibition, T-shirts, etc.

During the 3rd edition of the exhibition, lecture theatre was the most attended place. The lectures have been for a long time the most efficient way of passing information about possibilities of higher education and conditions of entrance examinations.

The Exhibition Catalogue

Each visitor received the printed 48 pages catalogue of the exhibiting schools and the detailed electronic catalogue on CD. The catalogues contained detailed information about education possibilities at exhibiting schools and educational institutions. Most of the schools supplied information about school, the list of faculties, contacts to studies departments, information about faculties’ subjects, entrance examinations, student’s statistics at individual faculties and departments, etc. About every exhibitor there is basic contact information published free of charge (name of the institution, address, phone and fax number, e-mail and web address).

The 4th Edition of the Exhibition in 2011

Most of the exhibitors would like to extend the exhibition for three days. The exhibition conception will be prepared by the consultative board consisting of representatives of the most important exhibitors. The consultative board will have the meeting at the end of March 2010.

25th February 2010


Prof. Ing. Jan Maxmilián Honzík, CSc. Academic Advisor

Dipl.Ing. Pavel Mikula, President of the Exhibition