Sustainability in design: now! Challenges and opportunities for design research, education and practice in the XXI century

Copyright @ 2010 Greenleaf PublicationsLeNS project funded by the Asia Link Programme, EuropeAid, European Commission

Philippine Monetary Policy and Aspects of the Financial Market: A Review of the Literature

Starting from early 1960s to late 1970s, this study conducts a survey of the literature dealing with Philippine monetary policy and related aspects of the financial market. In doing so, several important research problems are noted. Hence, this study is able to aid researchers, planners and policymakers in their future endeavor.financial market, money and banking, financial sector, financial system, monetary policy

From meaning-less to meaning-nest using literary texts to improve writing skills at B1 level

Can we implement our English courses with literary excerpts? Can we use literary texts in a communicative approach? What is the added value literature in the L2 classroom? High school students in Italy start studying English Literature in the third year of high school, at the age of 16, while their whole past experience in the learning of English has been merely based on the spoken language. Most course books show sample of “real” conversations for the sole purpose of practicing functions and grammar, improving pronunciation and developing vocabulary. However, through literature students may have the opportunity to investigate language at a deeper level including style, register, tone, a more creative use of vocabulary and idioms, metaphors, and a wide use of imagery that they can see in the excerpt which serve as a model, in order to develop their own writing skills. Besides, literature conveys meaning, and through quality literature we can address important issues of today’s world and allow students to develop critical thinking, raise awareness on multiculturalism and enhance their personal growth.¿Podemos mejorar y desarrollar nuestras clases de inglés a través de la literatura y utilizar los textos literarios de forma comunicativa? ¿Cuál es el valor adicional de utilizar la literatura en las clases de idiomas? Los estudiantes de escuela superior en Italia comienzan a estudiar literatura inglesa en “terza liceo” a la edad de 16 años, sin ninguna experiencia anterior ya que el aprendizaje de inglés se basa principalmente en el estudio de la lengua hablada. La mayoría de los libros muestran ejemplos de conversación “real” para practicar gramática, mejorar pronunciación y desarrollar vocabulario. Sin embargo, por medio de la literatura lo estudiantes pueden tener la oportunidad de analizar la lengua de manera más profunda incluyendo el estilo, el registro, el tono, el uso más creativo del vocabulario, los modos de decir, las metáforas y utilizando la imaginación, tal y como como aparecen en el texto literario que sirve de modelo para desarrollar su capacidad de escritura. Además, la literatura tiene significado por sí misma, ya que a través de ella es posible hablar del mundo actual y permitir a los alumnos desarrollar el pensamiento crítico, desarrollar la conciencia sobre el multiculturalismo y desarrollarse ellos mismos

Creative Thinking In Male And Female Vietnamese, Filipino, And Anglo-American College Undergraduate Students, As Measured By The Torrance Tests Of Creativity

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to examine (a) the degree of creative thinking of Vietnamese, Filipino, and Anglo-American college undergraduate students as measured by the Torrance tests of Thinking Creatively with Pictures (TCWP), form A, and Thinking Creatively with Words (TCWW), form A; (b) the degree of creative thinking between males and females in the three groups of students tested; and (c) the differences, if any, between the TCWP scores and the TCWW scores of the Vietnamese, Filipino, and Anglo-American college undergraduate students tested. Procedure. A sample of 15 males and 15 females in each ethnic group was randomly selected from the total Vietnamese, Filipino, and Anglo-American college undergraduate students who enrolled in one university and two colleges in Northern California in the Spring semester of the 1979-80 academic year. The TCWP and the TCWW were administered to students in each group; the T-scores were used in the data analyses. Ex post facto design was used in this study because it was not possible to manipulate the independent variables, namely, ethnicity and sex. The level of significance for rejecting the null hypotheses was set at .05. Statistical techniques used in this study were the two-way ANOVA and the Pearson product-moment correlation. Conclusions. The findings of this study indicated that: (a) the Filipino college undergraduate students scored higher on figural Fluency than the Vietnamese college undergraduate students; (b) females had higher figural Fluency scores than males; (c) the Anglo-American college undergraduate students scored higher on figural Flexibility than the Filipino college undergraduate students; (d) males had higher figural Originality scores than females; (e) the Anglo-American college undergraduate students scored higher on figural Elaboration than either the Filipino or the Vietnamese college undergraduate students; (f) there was no correlation between the TCWP scores and the TCWW scores on the factors of Fluency and Flexibility, but a moderate positive correlation was found in the Originality scores among the three ethnic groups tested. Recommendations. (a) Educational instructors and counselors should help their Vietnamese students become better acquainted with taking tests when these students are in the American educational system; (b) Filipino and Vietnamese students should be taught how to study in a democratic educational and political system, to concentrate on divergent thinking rather than on convergent thinking by recalling more verbal interaction between students and students and professors in defending different value positions; (c) additional studies should be conducted using samples of other ethnic groups such as Chinese, Laotian, Korean, and Japanese to verify findings in this study and to further examine cultural differences and the influence of specific cultural traditions; (d) an in-depth study, isolating specific cultural elements in the Vietnamese, Filipino, and American cultures should be undertaken to determine which traditions, mores, and values have the greatest influence on creativity

The Relationship of IMF Structural Adjustment Programs to Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights: The Argentine Case Revisited

Perhaps as important as what this Note is, is what it is not: Economic theories abound concerning the causes of the Argentine crisis, some of which directly analyze the IMF\u27s causal connection to the Argentine catastrophe. A Note on this subject would be one of economic theory, not international human rights law. While at certain points in the analysis of the human rights implications of SAPs, it will become difficult to avoid some speculation of economic theory, it is not the primary focus of this Note. Rather than implicate the IMF as part of the cause of the crisis, this Note explicates the ways in which it is an imperfect solution from the standpoint of ESC rights. It does not attempt to argue against the prevailing economic theories for the crisis, but rather discusses ways in which certain provisions of SAPs-provisions also often present in stronger economic periods-are inconsistent with ESC rights. To the extent that the ESC rights law discussed in this Note may appear contrary to the theories embodied in the economic studies cited above, this may reflect an underlying inconsistency between ESC law and macroeconomic scholarship, an inconsistency which should be dealt with in greater detail in future scholarship