Concurrent Sessions by Professional Development Unit Members at TED University English Language School

On February 9, 2026, Professional Development Unit members Renan Güney and Didem Sultan Demirman delivered concurrent sessions for instructors at TED University English Language School.
The program commenced with a comprehensive presentation outlining the Professional Development Unit’s initiatives implemented during the previous semester and articulating the strategic framework for the forthcoming term. The briefing emphasized sustainability, systematic observation practices, mentoring processes, and research-informed approaches to professional growth.
In the concurrent sessions, Renan Güney delivered a presentation titled “Action Research,” situating action research as a practitioner-oriented and methodologically rigorous framework for the systematic examination and enhancement of instructional practices within English Language Teaching contexts. The session elaborated on the cyclical processes of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting, underscoring the integration of classroom-based inquiry into routine pedagogical practice. Methodological considerations, including data collection procedures, analytical strategies, and ethical principles such as informed consent and confidentiality, were addressed within a structured research framework.
Didem Sultan Demirman presented “Teaching Smarter with AI: Ethics, Prompt Design, and Gemini Canvas in Action,” examining principled and responsible approaches to the pedagogical integration of artificial intelligence. The session provided a critical exploration of ethical AI use, systematic prompt design, and the instructional affordances of Gemini Canvas, supported by applied classroom-oriented exemplification.
The event contributed to consolidating a research-informed, reflective, and sustainable professional development culture within TED University English Language School.