Monday 28 November 2011

Investigación en Arquitectura Venezolana

La investigación arquitectónica de calidad se abre camino en Venezuela. El vínculo lleva al sitio de la Trienal de Investigación de la Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de la Universidad Central de Venezuela, mi Alma Máter.

En documentos en PDF se puede acceder a las ponencias que tienen un nivel contrastable, aunque mejorable. La iniciativa tiene que continuar y recabar todos los apoyos posibles. El laboratorio que representa la ciudad de Caracas y el país entero ameritan el esfuerzo.

Friday 25 November 2011

Universal Design for Learning


UDL is design applied to meet true diversity in education as learning skills in each individual are as different as their fingerprints.

There are three main principles for this pedagogical strategy:

  • Present the students the subjects in multiple ways
  • Allow them to express themselves in multiple ways
  • Create multiple ways of engagement

In all cases, the students are at the centre of the experience. CAST is a nonprofits organization that has been working for more that 25 years now and it's doing its job very, very well. They have many free interactive tools for students and teachers. An example to be followed.

Friday 18 November 2011

Student Engagement

Information on student engagement. It is done by the NSSE Institute for Effective Educational Practice of USA. At the end of the brochure there are some web sites very useful. You can tailor your own report with the Report Builder to hit the subject you want to measure.

There is also a Spanish version of the Guide to Choosing a College: Questions to ask on your college visits. It is very useful to learn criteria on choosing your educational institution, in spite the Spanish there is even worse than the English in this blog, I am afraid.

Thursday 10 November 2011

¿Occupy Harvard?

Economic students walked out a class at Harvard in solidarity with the Occupy Movement. It is normal that the students, who are going to live gloomy lives thanks to it, feel uneasy with the promotion of principles that have cause current global crisis. But that is not that clear.

The faculty chosen as a target was professor N. Gregory Mankiw, a New Keynesian economist that advised George Bush and has written some of the most important text books on the subject. University politics are always unpredictable. Not so long ago, Harvard Crimson celebrated the return of former president Larry Summers, previously fired for sexism, and one of the main responsible for laissez-faire fever. Now, a Keynesian gets the punch. In a previous post (The responsibility of Number One) I compared the reaction of the London School of Economics and Harvard in front of ethically controversial cases. It's in Spanish here.

In spite all the trouble this event may cause, it is encouraging that Harvard students think that "Harvard students will not do that anymore. We will use our education for good, and not for personal gain at the expense of millions." Here is the link to the news by the Universtity of Phoenix and here by Harvard Crimson.

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Dibujo del bueno



Federico Correa, catedrático emérito de la Escuela de arquitectura de Barcelona, y uno de los mejores dibujantes de la profesión, expone sus últimas obras. Sus dibujos son un prodigio de talento y gusto exquisito. Imperdible.

Sunday 6 November 2011

Say no to ACTA

If you appreciate internet freedom, say no to ACTA.

Continuing Education Center

Learning, advertising, business all together, mixed up with excellent results.

The McGraw-Hill site, Architectural Record, (yes, that magazine we all learned from at the university with the help of the long time no see "Goedex Sytem") has the Continuing Education Center that have tutorials on materials, building procedures and even architectural critique (with drawings!!!). All the "courses" are supported by Adobe slide presentation and are extremely informative.

It is a wonderful alternative to those visits of the firms representatives to the schools of design and architecture. Ah, and you can get a certificate after each course (if you take the test, of course). Check the videos too.

Friday 4 November 2011

Joan Busquet Erasmus Prize


Joan Busquet is a sort of undercover heroe. He is the prototype of the discrete architect (the opposite of the star architect). His works intend to convert our cities into liveable places that respect history and traditions and are uptodated at the same time.

The brief of the Erasmus Prize describes it very well. The link is the news in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.