We are proud to present the second number of Teaching
Crossroads, within the 8th IPB Erasmus week which took place in May
2012. This publication is the result of the papers delivered during our
Erasmus Week that is becoming increasingly popular among teaching
and non-teaching staff from several Erasmus partner Universities.
Similarly to last year, we are continuing the publication of Teaching
Crossroads whose main purpose is to reach students and teaching staff
of the IPB (Polytechnic Institute of Bragança) and of other IPB partner
universities. With this in view, the authors also made an attempt to
present material in a manner which can be readily grasped by students
and non-specialists. Likewise, we also believe it is important to have a
written register of what is being studied by some researchers in Europe
and make it available to students.
Bearing in mind the open spirit of this publication, everyone is
invited to participate with their papers delivered during the Erasmus
Week at the IPB. The result was pleasantly rewarding as we had
enthusiastic participants who very willingly made their texts available
for publication. The organisation of the Erasmus week has been a tradition since started in
2005 aiming at a more efficient collaboration with our European partners so that
they would become more familiar with the IPB campus, its schools, the city and
the region. During the IPB Erasmus Week, the Institute organises teaching and
staff training (STT) and the seminars arranged under Staff Teaching Assignment
(STA) that are scheduled and introduced in the regular timetable of Bachelors and
Masters’ degrees classes.
Having now participated in the Erasmus mobility programme for more than
twelve years, the IPB is acknowledged as one of the Portuguese institutions that
promotes students and teaching mobility the most, positioning IPB on the top of
the European HEIs and on a high level in the current international scene.
The review of these articles has been thorough, yet some unexpected flaws
may still occur. Nevertheless, the content of the texts remains intact, without
distorting the aims of the texts, and the references are the authors’ own responsibility.
Therefore, we accept no liabilities for any error or theoretical inconsistency or any
missing information.
The research areas are quite multidisciplinary, touching on areas as different
as business sciences and law, agricultural sciences and natural resources, chemistry,
multimedia and education. These areas comply with the areas of study that the IPB
has on offer. This publication is hence rather beneficial for our students, as well as
teachers and researchers.
Ziemowit Kukulski, with his customary precision, expands on a topic that is
truly current and relevant nowadays: ‘The elimination of double taxation in juridical
sense from Polish perspective’. Notwithstanding the fact that the study focused on
a particular country, the author is also concerned with comparing both the Polish
and the Portuguese juridical taxation framework. Rosa Vásquez presents a study on how the environment plays an important
role in the economy and can contribute to making the business sector more dynamic.
Emphasising the importance of state policies that affect the environment, her text
outlines the different instruments available to public administration in order to
enable environmental control of productive activities and promote good conduct
in favour of environmental conservation.
Bodgan Vlad Avarvarei presents the results of an analysis of commodity
for some yoghurt assortments sold on Iasi market, in Romania. The author also
aims to inform the consumers regarding not only all the information which must
be marked on, such as fat content, nutritive value, shelf life, storage temperature,
etc., but also to give some hints on the product design.
Mario de la Fuente Lloreda gives a lesson on different ways of Spanish
viticulture, exposing examples of one of the most emblematic D.O. (denominación
de origen, i.e. protected designation of origin) quality brands and their evolution
up to today. Igor Barényi’s text delves into spectral analysis, focusing on the description of
several spectroscopic methods to examine chemical composition of metal and alloys.
Esteban Galán-Cubillo takes us on a tour to the use of systems of virtual
scenography, along with the use of other digital technologies.
Cláudia Martins’s text gives us a very insightful glimpse on Portuguese
meteorological adages and proverbs bearing the highly suggestive title ‘Nine months
of winter, three months of scorching hell’. Besides that, the author also presents a
thorough linguistic explanation on fixed language, ranging from collocations to
idiomatic expressions, based on several keynote authors, with a particular focus
on pragmatic phrases, i.e. proverbs and adages.
Jan Michalko makes an introduction to Cyber Space Economics and its
relevance for such an important area as education or even training of citizens as it
is in the case of public services for increasing levels of e-government. The author
also emphasises the importance of Internet applications that provide a number of
opportunities for education, communication and business.
Slawomir Sztajer presents a deep reflection on religion, establishing a link
between cognition and religion. The author expands on this new approach of
religion, explaining and interpreting religious phenomena from the perspective
of cognitive science.
The ingredients for a gainful and stimulating reading are now served. We
hope that this publication works for the interest of many students and teachers
who find here information for their own studies and learn a bit more about the
countries referred to here, sharing learning experiences and scientific knowledge,
as well as cultural heritage. That is also the essence of the Erasmus programme.
