Banu Yücel-Toy is a professor in the Department of Educational Sciences within the Faculty of Education at Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey. She obtained her BSc in Statistics from Middle East Technical University in 1998, followed by an MA in Educational Measurement and Statistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2001, and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Middle East Technical University in 2008. From 2024 to 2025, she was a visiting scholar at the University of Alberta in Canada. Her expertise includes curriculum development and evaluation, instructional design, teacher education and training, measurement and assessment in education, and research methodology. She has been actively engaged in both national and international research initiatives, including projects funded by the Ministry of National Education and TÜBİTAK, as well as programs under Erasmus+ and COST Actions. 

Dawn Sanders is a  professor of biology didactics in the Faculty of Education, Gothenburg University, Sweden. Her  research projects include
‘Beyond plant blindness: seeing the importance of plants for a sustainable world’ (Dnr 2014-2013) was a three-year cross-disciplinary project funded by the Swedish Research Council. she is currently working on biodiversity awareness in education with an exploratory workshops grant from the Swedish Research Council working with colleagues from her own university, Karlstad University, Sweden and University of Vienna. Dawn trained in both fine art and ecology and her doctoral study considered botanic gardens as environments for learning (Sussex University, UK, Geography dept. 2004).  She currently serves on the editorial board of the journal Plants, People, Planet as a Thomas Reviews editor.

Lisans eğitimini Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Programları ve Öğretim Ana Bilim Dalı’nda tamamlayan yazar, yüksek lisans derecesini devlet bursuyla gittiği İngiltere Newcastle Üniversitesi Eğitim Bölümü’nden; doktora derecesini ise Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Eğitim Programları ve Öğretim Anabilim Dalı’ndan almıştır. TÜBA bursuyla Indiana Üniversitesi'nde; Fulbright bursuyla Boston Üniversitesi'nde; DAAD bursuyla Hamburg Üniversitesi'nde akademik araştırmalar yapmıştır. 2005 yılında Dr. Öğr. Üyesi olarak Atatürk Üniversitesi'nde görev yaptıktan sonra 2012 yılında Aydın Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi'ne geçmiştir. 2017 yılından bu yana profesör olarak görev yapmaktadır.  Başlıca çalışma alanları; program geliştirme ve değerlendirme, değerler eğitimi, insan hakları ve demokrasi eğitimi, akademik yazma, nitel araştırma ve öğretmen yetiştirmedir.

Gulcin Tan-Sisman is Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction in the Department of Educational Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. She got her Ph.D. degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey. Her research focuses on curriculum development and evaluation, teacher education children's learning of mathematics in elementary school, etc.
 

Anıl Kandemir is an Assistant Prof. of Curriculum and Instruction in the Department of Educational Sciences at Agri Ibrahim Cecen University, Turkey. He holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. He has an M.A. in the Curriculum and Instruction Program from Pamukkale University and a Bachelor's degree in English Language Teaching from Akdeniz University, Turkey. His research interests include teacher education, sociology of education, educational policy, migrant/refugee education, teacher identity,  institutional habitus, and program evaluation.

Nesrin Ozturk earned her B.A., minor, and M.S. degrees from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. As a Fulbright Scholar, she completed her Ph.D. in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA. Her research interests include metacognition, instruction for thinking, teacher education, ethics and educational philosophy. She also serves on the editorial boards of several academic journals and conferences and contributes to professional development through workshops and in-service training programs. Driven by a commitment to fostering a democratic and just society, Dr. Ozturk is dedicated to empowering youth and nurturing intellectual freedom. She believes that self-questioning and reflective thought are essential to realizing human potential and cultivating peace—both within individuals and across communities.

Yasemin Karsantık is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Sciences, Division of Curriculum & Instruction at Trabzon University, Trabzon, Türkiye. She earned her B.A degree from Yıldız Technical University, Engligh Language Teaching Department. She held M.A. degree in Curriculum and Instuction from Marmara University and completed her Ph.D. at Hacettepe University in the field of Curriculum and Instruction. Her research interests include curriculum change, curriculum evaluation, comparative curriculum studies, thinking skills and teacher education.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sibel Akin-Sabuncu was born in Cankaya/Ankara. She graduated from the Department of Elementary Education at Hacettepe University in 2009 and was honored with Hacettepe University Student Achievement Award (as ranked 1st in the department) and Hacettepe University Ihsan Doğramacı High Achievement Award. Upon completing her undergraduate study, she pursued her integrated Ph.D. degree (Master’s & Ph.D.) in Curriculum and Instruction Program and worked as a research assistant at the Department of Educational Sciences at Middle East Technical University between 2009-2017, through which she was granted a scholarship by TUBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey), 2211 National Scholarship Programme for Ph.D. Students. Having completed the required course work of her integrated Ph.D. education with a GPA of 4.00/4.00, Dr. Akin-Sabuncu defended her dissertation on “Identifying Essential Qualities for Elementary Teachers of the 21st Century and Effectiveness of Elementary Teacher Education Program for Developing These Qualities” in 2017. 

Dr. Akin-Sabuncu was invited by Teachers College, Columbia University to continue her studies at the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, and was honored by TUBITAK International Research Fellowship Programme to continue her studies in Newyork, USA. During her visit, she worked as a research assistant at the Office of Teacher Education and participated in “Teaching Residents at Teachers College (TR@TC1 & TR@TC2)” research projects. She also worked as a research assistant at the Office of Accreditation and Assessment and served as the coordinators of the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, and the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology through the conduct of "Teachers College, Columbia University Self-Study Project". 

Dr. Akin-Sabuncu assisted several undergraduate-level and graduate-level courses at Middle East Technical University and Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests mainly center on quality pre-service teacher education, pre-service elementary teacher education, elementary teacher qualities, teacher recruitment, induction, retention, curriculum development, and curriculum evaluation. Dr. Akin-Sabuncu has presented several research studies at leading national and international conferences, participated in different national and international research projects (i.e., European Union Projects, METU-IRFs, TEDU-IRFs), and published papers (SSCI-indexed, ESCI-indexed, and other) in several peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Akin-Sabuncu was honored with Nafi Atuf Kansu Educational Sciences Best Paper Award in 2018. Between 2021-2023, she pursued her postdoctoral studies at Teachers College, Columbia University where she focused on examining and designing strong faculty-school partnerships.