FOCI-XVII @ ISTANBUL MEDIPOL UNIVERSITY

FOCI-XVII @ ISTANBUL MEDIPOL UNIVERSITY

A review by Esra Gün Alayafi & İdil Güneş Ertugan

The theme of the seventeenth FOCI event was “Action Research in Curriculum Development: Implications and Possibilities”. The theme of this FOCI event seemed not to lend itself to the usual approach to the focus group tasks. Therefore, a different approach was taken and it was decided that each focus group brainstormed potential puzzles in a particular area of curriculum development and actually planned an action research study which the groups presented to the whole group at the end of the second day. 

Prior to the focus group discussions, two presentations that focused on “explorations and innovations” and a hands-on workshop on action research were organized. The first presentation was carried out by Jeremy Schlichter from Fatih Sultan Mehmet University in which he explained the process of piloting an online reading platform including the data gathering processes and the discussion of the outcomes.  The second presentation was delivered by Hasan Savaş from Medipol University. His presentation was based on an article he published in the Journal of Qualitative Research in Education. The subject of the presentation was “Maintaining the Efficacy of Warm-up Activities in EFL classrooms: An Exploratory Action Research”. During his presentation, Hasan Savaş referred to Ann Burns’ action research processes and made connection with his own research. The hands-on-workshop was organized by a member of Medipol University. During the workshop, participants were involved in analysis of action research cycles. 

There were three focus groups that focused on a particular aspect of the issues which were identified by the participants prior to the event.