Localization on the palmar face of the hand of a Darier-Ferrand dermatofiborosarcoma. About a case

Darier-Ferrand dermatofibrosarcoma is a rare but not exceptional malignant mesenchymal skin tumor, representing 0.1 % of malignant skin tumors. It is characterized by high recurrence, slow growth and low metastatic potential. Although several clinical cases of an unusual variant of Darier-Ferrand dermatofibrosarcoma have been reported in the literature, localization on the palmar face of the hand is not common. We report a case of Darier and Ferrand dermatofibrosarcoma at the level of the fourth commissure of the palm of the left hand in a 43- year-old young Malagasy adult treated by a large surgical excision with a healthy margin of two centimeters associated with adjuvant chemotherapy with Imatinib.

Evaluation of Teaching Practices of Teachers at Early Childhood Level in Public Schools of Pakistan

The main purpose of the study was to evaluate the teaching practices of teachers at early childhood level in public schools of Pakistan. The objectives of study were to: (a) find out academic and professional qualification of ECE teachers; (b) its impact on student''s learning; (c) teacher''s problems; (d) their teaching practices; and (e) suggestions for the solution of the problems faced by ECE teachers in public schools of Punjab. The major research questions were about: (a) the status of ECE teachers; (b) their competency level regarding qualification; (c) their teaching problems; (d) teaching strategies regard to urban/rural schools of Punjab. The study was conducted on 994 ECE teachers teaching in 9 districts of Punjab. They were selected randomly. The overall response rate was 80% (N=720). Three research instruments were developed for data collection: i) One questionnaire; ii) A teaching competency scale; and A Checklist for classroom observations. ii) Focus group discussions were conducted for incorporation of opinions of educational executives of four districts i-e Faisalabad, Nankana sahib, Narowal, and Sialkot. about the overall status of ECE in public schools. Topics for focus group discussion were also selected with consultation of supervisor. All these tools got validated through experts’ opinion and pilot study. The overall reliability of questionnaire was (.734). The questionnaire and teaching competency scale were administered to ECE teachers of public schools. Checklist was administered to 36 classrooms to observe the level of knowledge of ECE teachers about their connected fields. For this the researcher himself observed each and every classroom to get data as per checklist. The descriptive statistics were used for analysis and interpretation of data, the inferential statistics to determine the significant difference in perceptions of the respondents and the Cohen’s d formula to identify the effects of items of above mentioned research tools. The data collected through questionnaire was used to compare the teaching practices of ECE teachers regarding their gender and locality and to identify the academic and professional status of ECE teachers. The data collected in the shape of results from student records were used to examine the impact of teacher''s academic and professional qualification on student''s learning. It was categories into three levels i.e. excellent, good and average. Teaching competency scale was used to identify the competency level of ECE teachers of public schools about their teaching practices. The classroom observation schedule was used to assess the lesson presentation skills and the use of others related strategies and techniques which are important for ECE teaching. Through this data, level of students was ascertained. Discussion on data analysis was divided into four parts. Part–I illustrates the demographic profile of teachers as well as complete picture of teaching practices of ECE teachers, their academic & professional qualification and its impact on students learning achievements, comparison of teaching practices with respect to gender and location. Part-II describes the level of teaching competencies of ECE teachers about knowledge of children, subject knowledge and professional practices and practical wisdom. Part-III shows the results of observations of classrooms and Part-IV indicates the discussion of focus group of educational executives. The finding shows that majority of ECE teachers were teaching to ECE children by using different strategies at ECE level in public schools and their effect according to Cohen’s d formula was ranged from 0.00 to 0.91. This is range of scores across all the individual teachers. Their competency level was ranged from 0.002 to 0.253 (p value). This is range of scores of perception of ECE teachers about children strengths, subject knowledge and professional practices & practical teaching wisdom. The comparison between teaching practices of male and female ECE teachers has made as per teaching competency scale. The impact of their competency has measured through the achievements of students (table 39). Finding related to the identified indicators for observations of the ECE teachers working in the public schools were showed that 35% to 72% ECE teachers have the knowledge of their observed fields. It means that 28% ECE teachers have no knowledge about their relevant fields. This figure is different in other observations (table 41). Mark means that the desired level (standard) set by the department, parents and society Major findings related to focus group discussion indicated that curriculum for ECE class has developed but no one teacher had any awareness about the curriculum. They were following the text-books considering those a curriculum which was prepared for ECE children. Learning material, teaching kits and provision of A.V.Aids for teaching to ECE children were not ensured. Refresher courses and trainings were not provided to ECE teachers as per required level. The study concluded that the overall conditions for ECE classroom practices were not satisfactory. Many of problems were faced by ECE teachers with regards to their teaching methodology, availability & use of A.V.Aids and learning and teaching material. ECE teachers of public schools were not well equipped professionally to teach the young babies. Finally, some recommendations were made for betterment and development of early childhood education in Pakistan. It was also suggested that future studies in this area should be conducted on different aspects.