Dear all,

Please find ScOLa TLDU update for 2023-2024 Academic Year Fall Semester below:

1. Teacher Strand

1.a. ScOLa Induction Program – Fall Semester

Our new instructors, 20 prep instructors & 3 ML instructors, have completed Fall Semester of ScOLa Induction Program.  During this program, our new colleagues attended individual and common needs sessions, completed diagnostic observation cycle and follow-up actions. Below you can find the common-needs sessions delivered in the Fall Semester as part of the Induction Program:

  • How to plan a week incorporating all the available resources
  • Student-centered learning
  • The History of ScOLa Lexical Syllabus
  • Vocabulary – Demo Lesson
  • How to teach vocabulary at receptive level
  • How to teach vocabulary at productive level

We will continue with our needs-based program in the Spring Semester to ease our new colleagues’ transition period in their first year in our institution.

1.b. Action Research for & by Instructors

Our research strand concluded the Fall Semester with five sessions. We began our journey with the Welcome and Introduction session, preparing us for the adventure ahead. We discussed foundational aspects as well as research approaches and action research. Participants engaged with key chapters by Creswell (2023), Burns (2009), and Mills (2014), prompting thoughtful consideration of their research stance. Participants were encouraged to identify their research focus through the “Find My Topic” activity in the post-task phase. The second session focused on Research Questions, drawing insights from Burns (2009), Creswell (2023), and Dikilitaş & Griffiths (2017). As part of the post-task, participants drafted questions for review and submitted them for review in order to foster a collaborative environment for the refinement of questions. The third session focused on crafting an introduction and purpose statement in accordance with Creswell’s (2023). Our final session focused on conducting and drafting the literature review, culminating in the completion and submission of an ongoing task.

The research strand will continue with the following sessions during the Spring Semester:

  • Session 5: Data Collection Procedures
  • Session 6: Ethical Procedures
  • Session 7: Data Analysis
  • Session 8: Reflection and Planning Future Action

Additionally, we will provide follow-up sessions on Presenting & Writing-up Action Research during the summer school for interested participants. The extension is intended to assist researchers in presenting their work to a wider audience, as well as in publishing their work in journals and other academic publications.

Through these sessions, participants will continue to progress at their own pace, fostering a personalized approach that is in sync with their individual rhythms.

2. Student Strand 

2.a. Student Clubs

In the Fall Semester, our students had a chance to attend 9 different ScOLa Clubs:

A2 level,

1. A2 Speaking Club by Babak Jahanaray

B1 level;

2. B1 Speaking Club by Sultan Zeydan

3. B1 Movie Club by Nuran Uysal Duman

B2 Level

4. Engineers’ Club for B2 Students by Özlem Kaplan Snyder

5. Architecture and Design Club by Şafak Çelik

6. Social Sciences Club by Özge Özgen

7. CulinOtel Synergy Society for Applied Sciences Students by Babak Jahanaray

8. Ready for Take off by Sedef Nur Yaman

9. Business Club by Derya Yılmaz

In total, 34 students attended these clubs regularly and completed them successfully by attending at least 60% of the relevant club sessions.

Below you can see some photos from the last sessions of our clubs this semester.

 

2.b Student Development Sessions

We offered the following developmental sessions to our students in the Fall Semester:

  1. “Tips for Self-Study” by Gurbet Kabadayı
  2.  “Mobile Learning” by Gayane Pozharina
  3. “Mastering Pronunciation” by Ayşe Gizem Çiftçi
  4. “Word Wisardry” by Babak Jahanaray
  5. “Fixed or Growth” by Özlem Baykan

In total, 54 students attended these sessions in the Fall Semester.

Once again, we would like to thank our colleagues who ran the club activities and gave these sessions voluntarily in the Fall Semester.

2.c. ÖzU English Language Support Center

In the Fall Semester, ÖzU English Language Support Center, continued to help the students at the university. While the Study Center was visited 176 times, the Speaking Center was visited 139 times by both prep students and undergrad students. Out of these 176 visits to Study Center, 60 visits focused on grammar, and 46 visits were to get writing support. Prep students also sought guidance on reading, listening, vocabulary and study skills in general. In addition to the Speaking Center slots, prep students also visited the Study Center 36 times to practice speaking.

As stated above, we also had students who study in their departments visiting ÖzU English Language Support Center. More specifically, out of 176 Study Center visits, we had 18 by undergrad students and out of 139 Speaking Center visits, 51 were by undergrad students this semester, both of which are big increases compared to the previous year.

We also continued to offer face-to-face meeting opportunities for our students in addition to online ones. Out of 176 Study Center visits, 125 of them were face-to-face ones, which many students preferred even on their self-study days. Similarly in the Speaking Center the group who preferred face-to-face meetings makes up the majority of the visits with 113 face-to-face ones out of 139 visits. On the Self-Study Days of all 3 levels, there were 92 total visits to both centers, and 47 of them were face-to-face meetings.

We hope to continue giving this individualized guidance in ÖzU English Language Support Center in the areas where students need extra support in the following semesters.