DERSDEM One to One
DERSDEM One to One During the Pandemic | Study Project
DERSDEM During the Pandemic | Study Assistance Project
The MEF Faculty of Education has a compulsory course for first-year students called Introduction to Educational Sciences. Every student taking this course at MEF Faculty of Education is required to perform community service by providing 20 hours of study assistance to one (or more) primary, middle, or high school student(s) who need academic support but cannot access it due to socio-economic reasons. The aim of the MEF School at University Club's DERSDEM ONE-ON-ONE Study Assistance Project is to support the academic and social development of K12 students by connecting them with MEF Faculty of Education students and to ensure that university students gain values such as contributing to and sharing with the community without expecting anything in return. To achieve this goal, the MEF School at University Club not only accepts volunteers from MEF Faculty of Education but also from all other faculties and universities, striving to reach as many K12 students as possible.
2014 was the year when the MEF School at University Club started its first volunteer lessons by connecting university students with K12 students. To date, hundreds of university students have provided lessons to thousands of primary and middle school students without expecting anything in return. With the COVID-19 pandemic posing a clear threat to our country, the Ministry of National Education decided to close schools and commence remote education. These decisions meant that our university and K12 students could no longer meet in schools for their lessons, although the planned four-month lessons had only reached their halfway point. Units and topics were left unfinished, and there was still much to teach and learn. Despite everything, the lessons had to continue. To ensure this, the MEF School at University Club took action and, with the support of the MEF University Blackboard team, we joined the Blackboard online education platform.
Our university and K12 students began meeting and conducting lessons online via Blackboard links. Fall 2014 marked the start of face-to-face lessons, while Spring 2020 was when our first online lessons took place.
Since March 16, 2020, within the scope of ongoing online lessons, 48 university students from three different faculties and two different universities have conducted 334 lessons. These lessons include Turkish, English, Mathematics, and Social Studies. During the quarantine period, the number of university student volunteers in our club increased from 43 to 48, and the number of primary and middle school students increased from 56 to 108. Even in this challenging time, the efforts of our university students and the eagerness of our K12 students ensured that our energy never ceased to thrive and grow. The only change was that the excitement of teaching and learning, which we fostered under school roofs, was transferred to an online platform.
The MEF School at University Club continued its online study assistance activities in 2021 and reached over 700 students with the help of more than 500 volunteers. Our students adapted to technology, learning to effectively use online education platforms and developing their digital skills in the process. While new volunteers continued to join, existing volunteers sought ways to reach more students. Throughout the year, our volunteers ensured that the lessons were more effective and engaging by using various digital tools and resources. They tried to capture the attention and increase the learning motivation of K12 students through interactive presentations, online quizzes, and gamification techniques.
By 2023, the activities of the MEF School at University Club had diversified and expanded even further. In the new academic year, volunteer university students from a total of 38 different universities provided educational support to K12 students. The increase in student numbers proved how important and well-received the club's role in society is. The School at University Board had the opportunity to closely examine fieldwork by visiting Edirne and Hakkari. During visits to primary schools in Hakkari and Edirne, Dean Prof. Dr. Mustafa Özcan gave a presentation titled "Project-Based Education" to the students.
As of 2024, the MEF School at University Club collaborates with 87 different schools in 24 cities. Thanks to the protocols established with Provincial Directorates of National Education, over 500 volunteer students meet with more than 500 primary school students and continue the club's activities. By spreading the awareness of community service, we aim to encourage more volunteers to join these projects. In this way, we will continue to contribute to the academic and social development of students across our country.