Student Learning in Online College Programs

We draw on administrative data from the country of Colombia to assess differences in student learning in online and traditional on-campus college programs. The Colombian context is uniquely suited to study this topic, as students take a compulsory exit examination at the end of their studies. We can therefore directly compare the performance on the exit exam for students in online and on-campus programs both across and within institutions, degrees, and majors. Using inverse probability weighting methods based on a rich set of background characteristics coupled with institution–degree–major fixed effects, our results suggest that bachelor’s degree students in online programs perform worse on nearly all test score measures (including math, reading, writing, and English) relative to their counterparts in on-campus programs. Results for shorter technical certificates are more mixed. While online students perform significantly worse than on-campus students on exit exams in private institutions, they perform better in SENA—the main public vocational institution in the country.

Analysis on Dynamic Failure Behaviors of Steel Double-Layer Grids Supported by Circumjacent Steel Columns Used in a Sports Center under Disaster Earthquake Waves

In this paper, the analysis is carried out under EL-centro wave with SAP2000, and the appraisal results on their anti-failure performances are presented based on the plastic-hinge theory. In the analyses, the geometric and material nonlinear effects are considered simultaneously. The plastic development level of the rods, the deformed shape and the failure type and the ductility are estimated. The results show that the failure model of the structure under the earthquake wave action is the complicated combination of strength failure and elasto-plastic dynamic local buckling in deferent areas of the structure; Its critical failure peak acceleration of EL earthquake wave when applied in X directions is 747gal, which is 1.87 times more than the official seismic fortification level of 8 degree (major earthquake, 0.4g) and can be served as earthquake victim shelter in the area of 8 degree seismic fortification; Its displacement ductility coefficient is12.14,which shows the structure owns good energy dissipation capacity.

Study on Dynamic Failure Behaviors of Steel Double-Layer Grids(36×36m) Supported by Tridimensional Truss Columns Used in a Gymnasium under Disaster Earthquake Action

The study was carried out under El-Centro wave with SAP2000, and the appraisal results on their anti-failure performances were presented under strong earthquake action based on theplastic-hinge theory. In the analyses, the geometric and material nonlinear effects were considered simultaneously. The plastic development level of the rods, the deformed shape and the failure type and the ductility were estimated by plastic hinge principle. The results show that the failure model of the structure under the earthquake wave action is the complicated combination of strength failure and elasto-plastic dynamic local buckling in deferent areas; When the structure reached its failure critical limit, only 14% of the rods enter into their plastic stage and the development of the plastic hinges is not sufficient; Its critical failure peak acceleration of EL earthquake wave when applied in the combination of three directions is 969gal, which is equivalent 2.425 times to the official seismic fortification level of 8 degree (major earthquake, 0.4g) and it can be served as earthquake victims shelter in the area of 8 degree seismic fortification; Its displacement ductility coefficient is 2.88, which shows the structure owns some energy dissipation capacity.

Benedetto Croce and the Dilemmas of Liberal Restoration

The challenge of fascism led Italy's most distinguished philosopher, Benedetto Croce, to focus on the condition of the philosophical foundations of liberalism. Partly as a result, Croce became a central figure in the liberal opposition to fascism, and when, in the early 1940's, it became possible to envision the reconstruction of a liberal political order in Italy, he had no choice but to play a major role, even though he was seventy-seven years old in 1943. Largely because of Croce's direct involvement, the ensuing debate over political priorities brought to the surface, to an unusual degree, major questions about the intellectual underpinnings of liberalism. Croce had been seeking to bring liberal theory up to date, with some promising results, but his immediate practical preoccupations during the 1940's diluted the force of his argument, so the contribution which he could have made to a modern recasting of liberalism, both for Italy and for modern culture in general, was not appreciated. Instead, Croce's stance contributed to tensions that quickly caused Italian liberalism to fragment — and to shrink — and of course the resulting weakness has been crucial to postwar Italian history. On the European level as well, the new liberalism he had in mind never fully coalesced, and thus in part, liberalism has been widely considered passé among European intellectuals.