Dr. Göknur KAPLAN completed her undergraduate education at Hacettepe University, Mathematics Teaching in German in 2001 and ranked first in her graduating class of the Faculty of Education. In 2004, she received her master's degree from METU Computer and Instructional Technologies Education Department with her thesis titled "FIDGE Model: Instructional Design / Development Model Proposal for Game-like Learning Environments", which was nominated for many national and international awards. She completed her doctorate in 2010 from Penn State University's Instructional Systems Program with her thesis titled "ESPN Fastbreak Community Information Exchange Patterns". Dr. Kaplan currently continues to work as an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology.
Kaplan currently continues to work as a faculty member in the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology. She also works as the assistant director of ODTÜ BİLTEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Application and Research Center). Within the framework of the cooperation of BİLTEMM Center and LEGO Education, the BİLTEMM Lab was established and she still continues to work linking LEGO curricula with the national curricula. She also works in "the Digital Teachers" project that has received the 1st prize in the 2021 TEGEP Best Social Contribution Development Program, which is being implemented in cooperation with ING Turkey and Habitat Association and aims to provide and improve digital literacy skills of primary and secondary school teachers.
Dr. Kaplan, who was selected as “Academic All-Star” two years in a row by Microsoft Research and Serious Games Summit, has national and international publications on various topics. Her research interests is an eclectic set of interdisciplinary studies including but not limited to different topics such as, technology integration into education, mobile learning, instructional design, game-gamification, human - computer interaction, cultural theory, etc. Currently, she conducts research on the integration of Web 2.0 technologies into education as part of gamification, digital literacy, instructional design, teacher training, virtual reality and distance education.
EDUCATION
Undergraduate
Secondary Science and Mathematics Education, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
Graduate
Computer Education and Instructional Technology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.
Doctorate
Instructional Systems, Penn State University, State College, PA, USA.
AFILLIATIONS
Member of Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT).
Member of HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) Research Group, METU, Ankara, Turkey.
Co-founder and member of SIMGE (Simulations and Games in Education Research Group), METU, Ankara, Turkey
Member of e-games Group, Informatics Association Of Turkey, Ankara, Turkey.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Computer Education and Instructional Technologies
Instructional Design (analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation), games and simulations, communities of practice
Research Methods
Qualitative Research, Design-Based Research, Mixed Methods, Social Network Analysis.
Human- Computer Interaction
Usability and Usability testing, Participatory Design.
Mathematics Teaching
Abstract concepts, problem building and solving, mathematics teaching via games.
Creativity
Creativity as a phenomenon, Creativity at work (finding acronyms, writing scenarios, creating logos, designing covers etc.)
Games in Education & Gamification
Serious Games, Game-based Learning, Gamification in Education (Principles, design, elements), Gameful Design
Selected work
The Digital Teachers Project: Empowering Teachers
A tiny breather for COVID 19 times