I graduated from Bosphorus University-Istanbul-Turkey in 1988 with Bach.of
Science degree in Physics Teaching, Science Educ. Dept., and I entered the
national selection exam among 2000 physics teachers organised by the
Ministry of Education. I got the second placement among them. I then applied
to Yamanlar private school in Izmir in 1988. This school was a new school
and did not have graduates yet in 1988. It was a boys school with a
dormitory. The labs and the resources for physics were very weak at the
beginning. I worked for two years as a regular physics teacher in Yamanlar
high school in Izmir during 1988-1990. When we arrived our third year we had
a chance to send 4 students to the 5 member National Physics Team. This was
an extraordinary success in the history of science olympiads in Turkey. In
1991 Turkish national team went to Cuba. Next year, in 1992, three members
of the national team was again from our school. This time there was another
extraordinary event. As a general rule high school third graders (17-18
years old ) were participating in the international competitions. But one of
our students Salih Adem was 3 years younger and he was only 14 years old.
This was a world record in the 23 year physics olympiad history. Salih and
other students went to Finland and Salih returned back with a bronze medal.
Salih was very bright and naturally talented student. He obtained four
medals in the following years successively. This was another world record
for us. He obtained 2 gold and 2 bronze medals in four years. In 1993 we had
4 students in the National Physics Team and they went to USA for the
competitions. Salih came back with a gold ,Sinan with a bronze, Burak and
Taner came back with honorable mentions. Salih's solution has been printed
as an original solution in the official Physics Olympiad book. In 1994
national team went to China and 3 students from us again were selected to
the team .Salih got a bronze. Yasin got an honorable mention. Salih also got
his highest score (he was 11 in rank) in his 4 years of participation, but
the result was only bronze. In 1995 two students from our team entered into
the Turkish National Team and they went to Australia. Salih Adem got a gold
and Fatih Memis a silver medal. 17 students from our team was selected to
Turkish national teams during 1991 and 1995 .This contribution rate was like
a miracle for a school and our team was working like a factory.Turkey has
got total team rank scores as 10th, 8th, 10th successively. I have left
Yamanlar High School at the end of 1996 with a search for new business
opportunities in educational technology and project management areas.
In May 2001, after the decline of the okulum.com project I worked on
developing several creative projects on education. During this period a news
was published in NTV by Gulseren Guver on 13 December 2001 was saying that
«Science education is apart from life» “ In a report presented to Ministry
of Education by Istanbul Provincal Directory of Education, it was said
science education delivered in primary schools in Turkey was just done on
blackboard , there were very limited experimental apparatus in schools .. It
said the investigative and exploring sides of children were very high in
children especially when they are 7-12 years old and science education
during this period was very weak in primary schools. Science education in
primary schools just dampen curiosity and inquiry of children. In most of
the primary schools science laboratories were seen as unnecessary and those
opened ones were turned into classrooms by the same reason. Most of the
equipment in science laboratory cupboards were out of order or unoperating.
You can not find even a magnet in most science labs.Teachers are convinced
that they can not apply individual learning in crowded classrooms . Those
rare demonstration experiments practised by teachers are in such a way that
it is not clear what it shows, how it is done, which results are found and
what is the conncetion with the real life. Science teaching is performed in
conventional blackboard tecnique, by memorizing facts and solving
theoratical problems disconnected from nature. So science education is
teacher centered ,authorotarian and by rote. It does not help students
develop self confidence, produce creative ideas and develop personality.»
I started thinking to contribute a practical and creative solution for this
complicated and big national problem. I have seen that it was really hard
and difficult to educate some 400.000 teachers, to fill the laboratories of
some 35.000 primary schools with science equipments and to change the very
old habits , to find a practical and economic solution to the problems of
lack of experimental science education in primary schools coming from some
500 years and start a social trend to foster innovation and creativity in
Turkey .After a short investigation on internet I have observed that we can
perform very simple but interesting experiments with everyday materials that
you can find at homes or get from the supermarkets and even with the garbage
or waste materials. I have made a collcetion of these experiments and named
this project as «Inventors of the Future» In May 2003 during a conversation
with a producer talking the attractiveness we have explored, that we can
present experiments as attractive, interesting and astonishing experiences
like Harry Potter magic school, and by this way an idea of a school like
Harry Potter where magic is taught while actually science is learned came
into my mind. So I have looked at my experiment collection and have seen
that only a small part was suitable for such a presentation and I started to
increase the number , content and quality of the experiments as suitable for
a magic school design. After 4 month study, the number of experiments in the
collection again reached over 150 activities. I have participated at
birthday parties, family gatherings, other small meetings and school
activities in the second part of 2003 just to see which experiments are
mostly astonishing and interesting, and I have modified mine when I saw
unsatisfactory impact. In 2004 and 2005 I have particiated in school
presentations, supermarket and hotel shows to get more experience and
reached out to some 1000 children.
In order to motivate children to participate in science and inventions, I am
using magic and entertaining competition games concept. The specially
selected and designed science experiments can be performed without using any
laboratory equipment and they can be done by materials at homes or obtained
from stores, even by using garbage. Children will be entertained and
surprised so that they will not forget them forever and while they are
getting involved in hands-on science experiences, their experimental
exploration and inventory interests will develop. I also use my project
management skills coming from my experiences in Dogan Media Group National
Learning Project, World Bank financed community employment project, and
European Commision Funded Education Reform Project. A paper written by
Assistant Professor Teresa Crawford from California State University,
Fullerton, supporting my method of “using discrepant events” in science
teaching, could be found on pages 36-39 of the September 2003 issue of
"Science Scope" magazine published by NSTA, which has 53 thousand members.

