Study of the meta-subject competencies cluster of teachers working with gifted children

The relevance of the studied problem is based on the insufficient information on the professional development of teachers working with gifted children and youth. It also comes from the low level of their meta-subject competencies formedness, which reduces the efficiency of their work.The purpose of this article is to substantiate and describe the cluster of meta-subject competencies of teachers working with gifted children, the research method for this cluster and the revealed deficiencies in its formation.The key approaches to studying this problem are competency-based and meta-subject. The main research method is a specially developed computer competence-oriented test containing a system of tasks aimed at identifying and assessing the range of working knowledge (experience, actions) and skills to apply competence in practice The study was conducted in a group of additional education teachers with a university degree who worked with gifted children (average age - 35 years). The main results of the research are: The substantiation of the cluster of meta-subject competencies of teachers working with gifted children and youth; comparative analysis of the formedness levels for different groups of meta-subject competencies; competence-oriented test; description of main deficiencies of the meta0subject competencies formedness; measures on eliminating these deficiencies.The paper may be used in conducting the research on revealing the deficiencies in the formation of meta-subject competencies of teachers working with gifted children, as well as and the development of these competencies in the teaching process or improving the teacher’s qualification in universities and institutions of additional professional education.Keywords: gifted children, teachers working with gifted children, teacher’s professional competencies, teacher's meta-subject competencies, cluster of professional competencies, teacher’s professional competencies assessment tools, competence-oriented test, case-study, test assignment, formedness level of meta-subject competencies, deficiencies in the formation of competencies, development of meta-subject competencie

Performing DALK complicated by Descemet's membrane macroperforation in keratoconus without conversion to penetrating keratoplasty: a case report

We report a case of successful deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) for kearatoconus in the presence of intraoperative Descemet's membrane (DM) macroperforation in a 10-year boy. Intraoperative optical coherence tomography–guided femtosecond laser-assisted DM separation from the periphery to the center facilitated keeping the anterior chamber angle open and avoiding a subsequent increase in intraocular pressure. In addition, the size of the graft was made 0.4 mm larger that the size of the trephination hole, which enabled fitting of the graft margins and trephination margins, whereas precise deep femtosecond laser corneal dissection enabled (a) preventing a shock wave effect from the laser pulses and (b) DM adherence to the stroma of the graft. At 5 months after surgery, uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) was 0.5; keratometry values OD were R1, 7.67 mm; К1, 44.0 D; R2, 7.30 mm; К2, 46.2 D; Rm, 7.48 mm; Km, 45.1 D; and Astig, 2.2 D. Anterior chamber angle was 41.4º. The DM adhered well to the donor stroma, the DM defect was practically not visualized on imaging, and endothelial cell density was 2719 cells/mm2 in the operated eye. At 7 months after surgery, the patient’s UCVA was 0.6 OD and corrected visual acuity with a spherical equivalent of +3.0 D was 0.9