Figure 1: Role of Knowledge Sharing in Learning
“I teach, research, and practice innovation, entrepreneurship, and design.” (Karl Ulrich, Endowed Professor at the Wharton School)
I consider myself a theory-savvy modeler in Marketing, driven by a desire to contribute through high-quality research, yet who is also comfortable in lecture halls and classrooms. I earned my Doctorate in Business Administration, equivalent to a PhD in Marketing, at Koç University in Istanbul, and gained necessary skills and experience for teaching at TED University in Ankara. Innovation, strategic brand management, new product development and pricing are my main research areas. Figure 1 illustrates how I approach to research, scholarship and teaching services. They work together for knowledge generation and sharing.
Teaching
I accepted TED University’s offer for an Assistant Professor position in 2017, which only realized in early 2022. In between, I was asked to offer a variety of courses with serious teaching load.* I could have searched for a different university that appreciates research skills more, yet building an infrastructure for learning, as in the case of TED University – is a responsibility. Being a professor comes with responsibilities for research and human development, and facilitating learning in universities is true to the spirit of universities – something overlooked in post-truth societies across the globe. In a few paragraphs I will briefly describe my approach.
Quality of education can be measured through progress in critical thinking and freedom of expression. Teaching is then not a simple transfer of knowledge, yet motivating an interest, providing essentials to build knowledge on, and offer a perspective. With that, I am passionate to improve the education experience of learners in my courses. Learning begins and ends with respect, within a positive learning environment within the course, and through integrating sustainable development goals into course content and assessments.
My teaching approach is science and evidence based, connected to research and scholarship at its core. In doing so, I aim at incorporating digital technologies to strengthen engagement with learners and encourage use of technology. I consider myself as an active learning enthusiast. Opportunities to contribute to growth of learners and inspire ethical leadership are exciting. I believe, respect, accountability and transparency are three key principles. Integrating contemporary topics and research findings then improve the quality of weekly sessions/ lectures.
At TED University I delivered Social Media Marketing (BA465), Brand Management (BA464), and New Product Development (BA462). Due to the request of the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, I developed Digital Marketing for Education Institutions (MEI505), and delivered MEI505 to a class of professional educators in the Management in Educational Institutions Master of Arts program. Other courses I delivered includes mandatory courses; Production and Operations Management (BA305), Research Methods (BA401, ECON401, PSIR401) and Principles of Marketing (BA301). In addition to these courses, I supervised fifteen graduation projects in Business Administration (BA402) and one in Economics (ECON402). In anonymous course evaluation surveys, my average rating is about 4.5 out of 5.0. Notably, in MEI505, the rating was 4.89 out of 5.00, assessed by professional educators, including teachers with over thirty years of experience. I find these as consistent indicators of satisfaction with learning experiences.
I joined Koç University in 2024 as a research oriented Lecturer, primarily to teach courses on Innovation Management, Strategic Brand Management, at both the undergraduate and MBA levels, Marketing Research and the marketing module of the Capstone Project. I would be glad if these courses deliver long-term benefits to learners.
I highly appreciate the role of universities for societies in providing a robust venue for learning for university students and professors alike. I collaborate with Nazlı Wasti Pamuksuz (Professor of Management) and Özlem Atay Özkanlı (Professor of Management), on a teaching case about cooperatives, product development and branding, that will be available in 2025. I developed learning.love as an instrument to deliver recorded videos during the pandemic in a more private and effective way, and then to use for interaction in the post-pandemic period. I pilot tested Coursera integration in one of my courses at TEDU and also offered the first Vertically Integrated Projects in Turkiye, which is also one of the earliest in Europe, as part of an initiative for Innovation Capacity Building for Higher Education, funded by the European Union. I find these, together with encouraging comments I got from learners in my courses as an indication of success in my contribution to help develop a better future.
*”[A]mong college professors, there is a saying, ‘A handshake is good enough between businessmen. But when your university’s dean promises you something, get it in writing'” (Dixit and Nalebuff, 1993, p.151)
Dixit, Avinash K., and Barry J. Nalebuff. Thinking strategically: The competitive edge in business, politics, and everyday life. WW Norton & Company, 1993.
Here’s an Illustration of Bloom’s Taxonomy that I made. It is available under a Creative Commons Attribution license, free to share, reproduce and use it, as long as you attribute it to the learners.love.
