Control education in the software age

According to a commonplace saying, software is eating the world. Is software also eating control engineering? Software is currently transforming many industries including but not limited to automotive aiming at automated mobility services, agriculture moving to Agriculture 4.0, and factory automation with Industry 4.0. Software is simultaneously a flexible and universal functions enabler, and a driver of engineering complexity. At times, it seems that control engineers and software engineers are not understanding each other well enough. This article discusses two key engineering domains adjacent to control, systems and software engineering, covering engineering practice, design data exchange, and education. Finally, it suggests an extension to academic control curricula help to make control graduates even better team players.

The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training on Self-regulation and Perceived Academic Control of Girl Students

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of mindfulness training on self-regulation and perceived academic control of female students. The research is applied in terms of purpose and quasi-experimental in terms of method using pretest-posttest with a control group. The statistical population of this study consisted of all female high school students in Tehran in the academic year 2019-2020. First, a school was selected from among them and 30 students were selected by random sampling method and were randomly assigned to the experimental group (15 people) and the control group (15 people). The experimental group was trained in 8 sessions of the Mindfulness Training Program (2017). The self-regulatory questionnaire by Pintrich and DeGroot (1990) and the Perry et al.'s (2001) Conscious Academic Control Scale were used to collect data. One-way covariance test was used to analyze the data. The results showed that mindfulness training method has a significant effect on increasing students' self-regulation and conscious academic control.

Apathy and Academic Failure among Students: Results of a Pilot Longitudinal Study

The current study was aimed to examine the impact of psychological adjustment / maladjustment on the academic performance of Russian university students. Previous studies have shown that academic performance is closely related to alienation from study, study engagement, academic motivation, perceived stress, academic control, and boredom proneness. Some researchers also have suggested that adolescent apathy may be the risk factor for academic failure among university students. In turn, the American psychologist R. Handelman defined adolescent apathy as a specific state of lack of goal-setting, energy and interest, indifference to changes and experience of difficulties in making decisions in young adults [27]. In September 2019, 103 students (73 females and 30 males) aged 16 to 21 years from several Moscow universities filled out instruments assessing adolescent apathy, alienation from study, study engagement, academic motivation, perceived stress, academic control, and boredom proneness. The study was conducted at seminars in psychological disciplines. All study participants received bonus points in these disciplines. In January 2019, based on the results of the examination session, an average score was calculated for each study participant. This score became a criterion for academic performance of university students. There were no statistically significant age and gender differences in the scores of psychological adjustment / maladjustment. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that adolescent apathy was the single indicator that affects the academic performance of university students. Thus, the higher scores of adolescent apathy university students showed at the beginning of the academic year, the lower the average scores they received for the first exam session. Based on these data, it was concluded that adolescent apathy is a risk factor for academic failure and can serve as a target for preventive and interventional measures related to academic failure among Russian university students. Currently, in foreign practice, programs and recommendations are being developed and implemented for teachers of higher educational institutions who are faced with the adolescent apathy outcomes. Perhaps this study, which has proved the importance of adolescent apathy in the context of academic failure among university students, will be the first step towards the development and implementation of similar programs and recommendations for Russian educational institutions.

The Role of Parental Self-Efficacy in Explaining Children’s Academic Outcomes

Students’ educational outcomes are influenced by several factors that are not directly related to their personal characteristics, among which parental beliefs and behaviours are of special relevance. The present study was conducted on a sample of 301 primary school students and their parents, who completed a set of prepared questionnaires used for investigating the contribution of parental self-efficacy and the perception of parental involvement to students’ academic achievement, perceived academic control and achievement goals. The obtained results indicated parental self-efficacy as a predictor of perceived academic control and avoidance goals, whereas perception of parental involvement predicted perceived academic control, mastery approach and work avoidance goals. These findings confirm and extend previous knowledge regarding the relevance of parents’ engagement to children’s educational outcomes.

The Relationships Between Need-Supportive Interactions With Peers and Teachers, Perceived Academic Control, and Academic Success

This study discusses the relationships between students' need-supportive interactions, perceived academic control, and academic success. The survey involved 192 undergraduate students from different applied sciences universities in The Netherlands. The study examined if students' interactions with peers and teachers, in support of their needs (relatedness, autonomy, and competence), would improve perceptions of academic control and academic success. The constructs of perceived academic control, basic psychological needs, and students’ formal and informal interaction with peers and teachers were linked to each other in a path model. The findings of path analysis showed that need-supportive interactions predicted positive perceptions of academic control and academic success. Most relevant to positive perceptions of academic control were students' formal interactions with peers and teachers supporting their autonomy and competence. Positive perceptions of academic control subsequently supported academic success.