The use of educational platforms as teaching resource in mathematics

Dropping out from the school system at High School level has been a problem for several years; high levels of mathematics’ failing have been a recurring situation. This paper discusses how academic virtual counseling might be a tool to help students in math class. The methodological approach is based in the non-experimental, longitudinal model evolution and in the designs of evolutionary group analysis, we stated the possibility to generalize the results of the use of technological resources in the teaching of mathematics in order to find out if it is possible to improve the levels of students at a school in upper level education. According to this research, the use of educational platforms as a resource for the subject of mathematics represents not only a technological tool for teachers but also offers students the opportunity to view this subject as an academic challenge to overcomePeer Reviewe

A Spanish version of the athens insomnia scale

Objectives To develop and validate a Spanish version of the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). Methods The AIS is designed to assess sleep difficulty and comprises eight items: the first five refer to the sleep disturbance and the last three to the daytime consequences. Either the full eight-item scale (AIS-8) or the brief form (AIS-5) can be administered. The adaptation used a backtranslation design. The validation process was based on a sample of 323 participants (undergraduates, community sample and psychiatric outpatients), which completed the AIS and other questionnaires: anxiety (BAI), depression (BDI) and psychological well-being (GHQ-12) scales. Results The internal consistency coefficients for both versions were above 0.80. The study of dimensionality revealed a single factor with high loadings and a percentage of explained variance above 50% in both versions. Test-retest reliability was above 0.70 (AIS-5) and over 0.80 (AIS-8) at a one-month interval. The correlation between the AIS and the previously mentioned scales was for both the AIS-5 and the AIS-8 above 0.40 and 0.50, respectively

Price Setting Mechanisms in Complementary Currencies in Argentina's Redes de Trueque

Complementary currency systems are based on principles of solidarity and contestation of the regular currency systems, so their prices may differ from those in the regular economy. This study aims to explore that assumption and discusses in what ways and for what reasons some prices are different. Based on data collected in Buenos Aires during 2004, it researched the ways in which various prices in the Argentine Redes de Trueque followed those in the regular economy or internal considerations of the system, as relative supply and demand, production costs, and ethical and institutional factors. It found substantial evidence against the assumption that prices in the CCS were a direct conversion of prices in pesos. Each node was organised as a price network in which critical prices - namely those of groceries bought in pesos - were used as reference for other prices. The result was a power asymmetry in favour of those who had pesos to get supplies in supermarkets, but some traders refrained from obtaining the maximum profit and preferred to ask a “fair price”. Notions of fairness and shared values, however, varied widely, like the effectiveness of the institutional controls put in place to keep prices down

Governance and sustainability of the Argentine Complementary Currency Systems

The Redes de Trueque (RT) thrived during the economic crisis of 2001 – 2002 in Argentina and still stand out as one of the largest Complementary Currency System in the world. These local exchange networks reach a large scale during times of severe economic distress, but as large non-state initiatives, they pose a governance problem. Four types of governance systems were structured within the Argentine RT, of varying degrees of sustainability: a) loosely regulated market systems, b) hierarchies, c) associational reg

Introduction: Money and Development

This special issue of the International Journal of Community Currency Research (IJCCR) includes 15 papers that their authors presented in their earlier versions at the 2nd International Conference on Complementary and Community Currency Systems, ‘Multiple moneys and development: making payments in diverse economies’. It was held at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Hague between 19th and 23rd June, 2013. It was organised as an event of the Civic Innovation Research Initiative in collaboration with the Qoin Foundation (Amsterdam), the thinktank New Economics Foundation (London), and the Palmas Institute (Brazil and Europe). The event was attended by almost 450 participants from 31 countries, including academics, practitioners, consultants, policy makers and representatives of grassroots organisations. This special issue seeks to reflect that diversity and includes articles on Complementary and Community Currency Systems from most corners of the world

Do micro-enterprises promote equity or growth?

Introduction: There has been a growing awareness since the early seventies that small enterprises are important for economic growth. They are seen as the engines of employment, alleviating poverty and improving equality. The eighties saw an intensification of this interest and a consequent expansion of policy into the sector of micro-enterprises, following the discovery of widespread entrepreneurial activity in both developed and developing countries. In the case of the latter, entrepreneurial activity was particularly salient among the poor. The idea that intuitively followed was that enhancing these small businesses could effectively and rapidly fight poverty. The evidence supporting the view of micro and small enterprises as the engine of growth is in fact not conclusive. Research findings in both developed and developing countries show that job creation and growth are highly concentrated. The great majority of SMEs are not very growth prone. The European Commission found that 50% of total

Field presence of Dutch NGOs: What is the impact on civil soieties in the South?

Executive summary: In the last years, PSO has noticed that a number of Northern NGOs (NNGOs) have established field presence in the South, guided by the conviction that proximity to the target groups and the partners in the South would make their organisations more efficient and effective. However, there are also some negative views on the move, which has even been referred to as a new form of neocolonialism. The strengthening of civil society is a priority for PSO and its member organisations and has motivated the present report. “Field presence” is defined as keeping field offices with a building and an administrative structure and/or permanent officers at the site of the projects (consultants and advisors in the field for a short time are thus excluded). A distinction is made between operational NGOs, doing mostly humanitarian work and post-conflict rehabilitation through field offices and officers, and those doing structural development work, usually through local partners. A total of

From international charity to value chain coordinator

This article describes the activities of The association Pueblos en Acción Comunitaria (PAC) as a model of value chain organization with an entrepreneurial vision and Christian inspiration and enquires in what ways it represents a new model to promote local development and poverty reduction. It analyzes the replication potential of its intervention methods and discusses the challenges to be taken into account if the model is implemented elsewhere

Remittances in rural Zimbabwe: From consumption to investment?

When remittances become widespread and stable in a rural village, they adopt a critical role in supporting local development. They contribute via the promotion of businesses and employment. Productive consumption creates opportunities for investment in growth oriented SMEs, whether their owners are receivers of remittances or not. This study used an ethnographic technique to “follow the money”, consisting of recording several rounds of transactions in a village in rural Zimbabwe after the reception of cash from abroad. In this paper we argue that remittances contribute to local development in Ward 2, Tsholotsho district in diverse ways. These include promotion of micro-enterprises and employment generation in fishing, brick moulding, fetching firewood, building and weeding, among others, that non-receiving households offer receiving households for a fee. The study concludes that, through remittances, households’ livelihood security is increased, albeit differentially. Receivers form a consumptive class with limited motivation to run new businesses and mainly focus on upgrading existing agricultural activities. Non-receivers form the pool of the labour available to be engaged by recipients when they need to hire extra labour at low wages and working conditions

Remittances in Rural Zimbabwe: From Consumption to Investment?

__Abstract__ When remittances become widespread and stable in a rural village, they adopt a critical role in supporting local development. They contribute via the promotion of businesses and employment. Productive consumption creates opportunities for investment in growth oriented SMEs, whether their owners are receivers of remittances or not. This study used a new ethnographic technique to “follow the mone