Northampton Community College

About: Northampton Community College is a education organization based out in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 3410 authors who have published 4582 publications receiving 130398 citations. The organization is also known as: Northampton County Area Community College.

Analysing the novice analyst: cognitive models in software engineering

Abstract: Cognitive problem-solving by novice systems analysts during a requirements analysis task was investigated by protocol analysis. Protocols were collected from 13 subjects who analysed a scheduling problem. Reasoning, planning, conceptual modelling and information gathering behaviours were recorded and subject's solutions were evaluated for completeness and accuracy. The protocols showed an initial problem scoping phase followed by more detailed reasoning. Performance in analysis was not linked to any one factor although reasoning was correlated with success. Poor performance could be ascribed to failure to scope the problem, poor formation of a conceptual model of the problem domain, or insufficient testing of hypotheses. Good performance concorded with well-formed conceptual models and good reasoning/testing abilities. The implication of these results for structured systems development methods and Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools are discussed.

Mesulam’s frontal lobe mystery re-examined.

Abstract: Purpose Mesulam's (1986) mystery is that some patients with frontal lobe damage may show no cognitive impairment according to traditional office-based assessment procedures, yet nevertheless show marked cognitive handicap in everyday life. Mesulam suggested that "the office setting may introduce sufficient external structure to suppress some of these behavioral tendencies" (p. 322). We ask if it is indeed the office setting that is the problem, or whether it is that traditional assessments do not measure the full range of cognitive functions supported by prefrontal cortex. Method Neuropsychological case series study and review. Results Traditional methods for assessing cognitive deficits following frontal lobe damage typically do not measure the full range of deficits that can occur. In particular, rostral prefrontal cortex supports functions which are not routinely assessed yet are crucial to competent everyday life performance. These include meta-memory functions (e.g. context and source memory), complex behavioural co-ordination (e.g. prospective memory and multitasking), and mentalizing. Conclusions New clinical assessment procedures are required urgently. These could be based, in principle, both on recent experimental findings from cognitive neuroscience, and observation of behaviour outside office settings. These procedures could then be administered in an office setting.

Supporting the inclusion of pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties in the primary school: the role of teaching assistants

Abstract: During the past ten years in the UK there has been a considerable increase in the number of teaching assistants (TAs) appointed to work alongside teachers in schools. A significant number of these colleagues are appointed to support pupils with special educational needs (SEN), including those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). This paper reports on the ways in which the role of the teaching assistant in supporting pupils with SEBD has been developed in schools for pupils aged 7–11 years in one English Local Education Authority (LEA). It suggests that there are several models of support emerging and that the role of the teaching assistant is perceived as crucial to the effective inclusion of pupils with SEBD in mainstream classrooms.