The Bangkok Declaration: 5th International Conference
on Multidisciplinary Research (ICMR)
Dr. David Cababaro Bueno
Dean, Graduate School
Director, Research and Publications
Columban College, Inc.
Olongapo City
Philippines
Research evidence demonstrates that while economic growth is not sufficient to
achieve socioeconomic development, it is clearly necessary for both poverty reduction and
human development.
Countries with low levels of research capacity are unlikely to achieve economic growth
through direct commercialization of research. Other forms of academic-industry partnership
may be more effective at driving growth but there is relatively little research on this at present.
There is evidence that the capacity to adapt and absorb research results is a stronger factor in
economic growth in low-income countries than the production of new research knowledge. A
large component of this ‘absorptive capacity’ is related to human capital.
In addition to the possibility of generating new and profitable ideas, investment in
research activities can enhance a country’s ability to adjust and accept ideas which have been
generated either locally or internationally. The uptake of research knowledge generated
elsewhere may be a particularly important feature of research in countries which are
attempting to fare with technological developments from elsewhere. Some authors have
suggested that a higher proportion of ‘adaptive’ research could mean a reduction in lag periods
between investment in research and economic benefit in countries. A number of authors have
argued that innovation will only contribute to economic growth if the private sector has the
‘absorptive capacity’ to adopt new systems, products and technologies. Indeed, there is a
strong body of evidence which suggests that, for low income countries, the ability to use
knowledge and technology is a better predictor of growth than the ability to generate new
knowledge and technologies within a country.
Advancing research and innovation can play a critical role in addressing socio-economic
development, which is affected by various factors. This can help alleviate social challenges,
which encompass health and demographic challenges, and social exclusion and inequalities,
among others. As an example, innovation can help elderly individuals remain healthier, live
independently longer, and counteract the diminishing of physical capabilities that become more
prevalent with age. It can also provide more personal, predictive and preventive health care
products that improve the quality of human health. In addition, frugal or inclusive innovations
that are basically cheaper and simplified versions of existing goods help reduce differences in
living standards between groups in society. In addition to research and innovation addressing
social exclusion, social benefits arise by creating employment opportunities and addressing
particular challenges faced by lower income groups.
Neoclassical growth models consider educational research, knowledge accumulation
and technological progress as the only way to achieve long-run growth to reduce effect of
diminishing returns to capital. Advances in growth theory have recognized the importance of
the accumulation of knowledge capital and human capital. Human and knowledge capital,
derived from investment decisions of individuals and firms to respond to economic incentives
and eventually to policies and institutions. Innovation is also often associated with setting up
new enterprises to provide the market with new offerings and create new jobs. At the same
time, research and innovation can lead to firm closures and job destruction if products or
services become obsolete or are displaced by more competitive offerings while aggregate
employment effects will depend on the nature and effectiveness of labor reallocations.
The theme of the 5th International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research (ICMR) is
“Advancing Research for Global Socio-Economic Development”. Professors, institution
researchers, scholars and other professionals from the Philippines and the Asia-pacific region
will get together and involve themselves in panel discussions and presentations of experiences,
research results and practice achievements on various disciplines as well as planning future
development.
A number of papers are focused on Education, Social Sciences, Business and
Management, and Engineering, Mathematics, Biological and Health Sciences.
In the field of Education, students have their own style of learning where it affects how
they act, learn, participate in activities, relate to others, solve problems, teach and work. The
study revealed that students practiced much of the learning styles; except for memorization
which is moderately preferred compared with other strategies. Thus, the extent of practice on
the different styles and the level of preference on the different strategies have low correlation.
Moreover, students’ educational and occupational aspirations are influenced and shaped by
personal, family and community factors. Previous studies stated that parental academic
involvement is associated with academic achievement which in turn is related to educational
and occupational aspirations. Results also showed that the parents’ total monthly income was
not an important predictor of students’ educational and occupational aspirations. However,
academic involvement and support from parents were found to be of great influence in
students’ aspirations. It was also found that parental expectations play a role in encouraging
students to set their own expectations and goals.
In today's competitive academic environment where students have many options,
factors that enable educational institutions to attract and retain students should be seriously
studied. There were no significant variations found in relation to the degree of satisfaction of
students across colleges relative to non-academic aspects, academic aspects, design, delivery
and assessment, group size, program issues, and access. However, there were significant
variations in relations to reputation as dimension of quality. It is important for the colleges to
work continuously towards ensuring that the services provided really exceed the expectation of
stakeholders’, thereby, increasing their market share. By doing so, higher learning institutions
from the Philippines can become a major force in the industry both in the Philippines and the
ASEAN.
Lastly, in mathematics education, the struggle to use multiple representations to
construct knowledge rather than to rely exclusively on symbolic or procedural algorithms rages
on. Although recent studies have shown the many benefits of constructivist-based learning on
student’s cognition; models of teaching based on this approach remains a challenge. Since
constructivism encourages students to represent their thinking in diverse ways, it also demands
teachers to manage class time by providing opportunities for deep exploration without
sacrificing the breadth of content. The results revealed significant improvements in the
mathematical discourse and achievement of students from both groups. It also showed that
students from the flipped classroom were more likely to contribute higher cognitive ideas
during class discussion. However, further analysis indicated that the flipped classroom model is
not necessarily superior over the conventional classroom model.
In the Social Science discipline, a study revealed that language is intertwined with
culture and the degree by which it is used. It determined the attitude to the function and use
of drills, the giving of grammatical explanations, and the value of repetition and learning by
heart. Results further disclosed that these expressions were used in giving advice or
encouragement, showing appreciation, asking apology, expressing anger or hated, correcting
mistakes, making criticisms, giving warnings, and scolding someone. Ilokano idiomatic
expressions also reflect the Ilokano language’s respectful forms of address and the Ilokano
culture’s sincerity in keeping confidential matters. Thus, Ilokano idiomatic expressions use the
human body to hide figuratively the thoughts and feelings evoked by the speaker.
Another study had identified whether marital status and gender were factors affecting
Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB) values with respect to three dependent variables namely desired
behavior, basic values and problems in the workplace. It showed that the desired behavior and
basic values have moderate mean values, whereas a problem in workplace has lower means for
civil servants in Brunei. Low level of problems in a workplace suggests that the problems were
mostly related to employee’s development. Marital status and gender have no significant
effect on desired behavior and problems in a workplace. It was also disclosed that marital
status and gender have no significant effect on problems at workplace which suggests that
these demographics may not be profound enough to rectify the importance of its impact on
problems in a workplace for civil servants in Brunei.
Furthermore, the influx of foreign students in the Philippines had absolutely brought
substantial input to its economy, education, and culture. With these, Higher Educational
Institutions (HEIs) in the country admitting foreign students are challenged not only to make its
academic offerings and services responsive to the demands of internalization and globalization
but also to provide quality educational experiences to their foreign student populace by
recognizing their needs, expectations, and vulnerabilities particularly in terms of cross-cultural
adaptation. The study accentuated the prevalence of a moderate level of acculturative stress
experienced by the foreign students and with a high level of help-seeking tendency. Bivariate
correlations indicated that acculturative stress and help-seeking behavior of the foreign
students are significantly related to selected demographic and personality variables. These
findings resulted in recommendations for improving the efforts of HEIs particularly in designing,
advocating, implementing and evaluating institutional policies that affect the welfare of their
foreign enrolees.
The threat of gradual cultural trouncing is indeed a challenge to state universities and
colleges which are considered the culture-caregiver. Studies revealed that cultural heritage in
the form of artifacts are less-systematic and scientifically preserved. Generally, these are
remnants of collector magnates clustered under pottery, carpentry, martial arts, farming
implements and weaving and at negligible plastic arts collections. These are light materials,
having medium-built structure and are perceived with lesser importance which threatens
Filipinos’ cultural identity.
Another study investigated the child labor and its relationship to the academic
performance of the children of sugarcane farmers. Results showed that the nature of works
(engaged in by the respondents) with the highest mean are farming and poultry-raising, while
the factor (that led them to child labor) with the highest mean is poverty. The results of the
research indicated that there is a relationship between academic performance and child labor.
Recommendations include providing flexible time or modular lessons for students who are
engaged in child labor.
For Business and Management, product differentiation is considered as a marketing
strategic tool incorporating the attributes into a product with a view to changing the perception
of customers towards the product. More often, knowledge of product differentiation brings
forth additional marketing strategies for the company. The results showed that the Extent of
Product Differentiation, in relation to product attributes, service and price, as perceived by
customers of Blackbeard’s Seafood Island has no significant difference in terms of age, gender,
marital status and educational attainment. This presupposes that the Blackbeard’s Seafood
Island should maintain the extent of differentiated products and should add another strategic
tool to increase the number of the customers of Blackbeard’s Seafood Island.
Business operation is dependent natural resources in addition to human, physical and
financial capital. Its economic activity must not degrade or destroy the natural environment.
The study assessed the practices of women entrepreneurs in their business operation in
response to global climate change and to come up with a strategic intervention. A common
response is stricter environmental regulation, which often inhibits business growth and in
which opportunities for business may be constrained. However, this creates opportunities to
become suppliers of ‘green consumers’, developers of environmentally safer materials and
innovators of eco-efficient processes. These enterprises will generally have a competitive
advantage. The practices on environmental stewardship varied depending on the type of
business, capitalization and number of employees. Their compliance to environmental laws as
well as other green practices earns the local community’s goodwill and in the long run, ensures
profitability.
Another study aimed to find out if gender equality in terms of women representation
and/or participation in the corporate world, politics, higher education management and labor
workforce is practiced. Likewise, it aimed to find out the causes of inequality, if it exists. The
results revealed that glass ceiling and inadequate government regulations and lack of
implementation of existing policies in women’s leadership hinder women to forge ahead in the
realm of management. This study concludes that gender inequality exists globally despite
substantial national and international measures being taken against it. Breaking the glass
ceiling and fine tuning the mindset of the population in favor of gender equality are highly
recommended.
Moreover, TQM as a philosophy embraces all activities through which the needs and
expectations of the customer and the community, and the objectives of the organization are
satisfied in most efficient and cost effective way by maximizing the potentials of all employees
in a continuing drive for improvement. Continuous quality improvement requires a
commitment to constant examination of the technical and administrative processes in search of
better methods. Customers saw high standard of quality in the service rendered. Customers’
satisfaction was positively affected by the standard of quality in the service. The employees
across departments were generally satisfied with the authority/ies in the school/ department.
Continuous improvement was evident, and the quality service delivery was due to workers
empowerment. There were no significant variations on the perceived customer satisfaction
among internal stakeholders. However, significant variations were found relative to employee
satisfaction and effective operation.
In the fields of Engineering, Mathematics, Biological and Health Sciences, inventions like
the fabricated lever type valve spring compressor make the works in auto shops easier and
safer. This study determined the level of utility of the design and development of the locally
fabricated lever type valve spring compressor. Results revealed that majority of the
respondents evaluated the tool as “Excellent” with the level of utility of the Lever Type Valve
Spring Compressor. Experts and representatives of the institutions and automotive shops
perceived the utility of the Lever Type Valve Spring Compressor as “Excellent”. Thus, the tool is
very much appropriate in the advancement of skills and knowledge of the students for learning
and demonstration purposes. It would further enhance the technological experience of the
clientele since the tool is very handy.
In the Philippine countryside, where barrio folks are closely entwined with their natural
environment, their close contact especially to the adjoin dipterocarp forests makes them more
knowledgeable on the different uses of plants. Results showed a rich diversity of plant species
in Tagkawayan and the barrio folks are knowledgeable on the traditional uses of plants.
Moreso, documentation of this traditional knowledge will be of great value for the communities
and their future generation.
Breastfeeding is continuously endorsed for its many health benefits for both the mother
and the infant. The Philippines is said to be one of the top nations with the least number of
exclusively breastfed children despite its full implementation of the Milk Code. Birthing places
such as privately-owned hospitals are expected to play a key role in promoting breastfeeding. It
aimed to showcase exemplars as basis for lactation policy recommendations. Best practices
include: first-time mothers are assisted to breastfeed their newborns with motivations and
support from health-care personnel: midwives, nurses, and doctors, through multimodal
instructions: verbal, demonstration, and IEC material reminders. The primigravida and her
support persons: husbands/partners and mothers/mothers-in-laws were instructed on
exclusive breastfeeding and its benefits, maternal/infant nutrition, and home care for
commonly encountered breastfeeding problems.
CONGRATULATIONS!