ISSUE 16 - August 2019

Monthly eddition | August 2019

Issue â„– 16

YOUTH VIBES International Center for Development of Education and Training

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University talks.

International Center for Development of Education and Training

Youth VibE+s is the life style part of E+Media4YOUth media portal, collecting storyes of the participatin youth in different activities under Erasmus+ program and making their dissemination.

All materials are made by the participants. The monthly most interesting materials are published in this electronic magazine, using the most innovative ISSUU platform as the most popular among young people in Europe and the world.

The electronic edition is full of well-selected photo and text materials that makes reading enjoyable and useful to you.

The electronic edition is full of well-selected photo and text materials that makes reading enjoyable and useful to you.

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Monthly eddition | August 2019

Issue â„– 16

Studying at a Prestigious University If you are in the middle of the university decision-making process, this article might help you decide. MUNPlanet has recently partnered with one of Turkey's most prestigious universities, SabancÄą University. You can read the interview with university officials below.

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Sabanci has been operating for over a decade now, and it’s become one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in Turkey and beyond. Please tell us a bit about Sabanci, yourself and your role at the university.

Sabancı University is a young foundation university founded by Sabancı Group, which is one of the largest industrial groups of Turkey. We are a real campus university with state-of-the-art instructional and research facilities located on a 1.26 million square meter campus about 40 km away from Istanbul’s city center. Although we are a very young university, we established ourselves one of the top ranked universities in the world. You can see the name of “Sabancı University” on Times Higher Education Rankings, QS Rankings as a top university. I am the Student Recruitment Manager and have been working at Sabancı University since 2010. I have established our international student recruitment system as of 2010 and now we have 500+ international degree students from 60+ different countries on campus.

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Everyone enjoys a good story. Since Sabanci was founded all the way back in 1996, its story has to be interesting. How was it started and how has it got to where it is today?

Sabancı University, established in 1996, is a leading global university with interdisciplinary education that focuses on research and the individual; an environment of free academic choice and performance and a globally-influential faculty. Our university has become an international point of reference with its participation in flagship research projects; with its innovative model of education that gives its students full freedom in choosing their area of study. Sabancı University currently offers 13 undergraduates, 25 master and 12 PhD programs, as well as minor honor degrees and double degrees under the roofs of three faculties.

Monthly eddition | August 2019

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Issue № 16

Application process differs from university to university. Could you briefly describe the procedure at Sabanci? Tell us some of the most frequent mistakes in the application that should be avoided.

The students should fill in the online application form and submit the required documents such as their transcripts, diplomas, one reference letter, if available exam results like SAT, TOEFL. After completing the online application form, they should send their attested original transcripts (for UG applications) and all documents (for graduate applications) by post.

This part is the most important part. Because without attested original transcripts or documents, the faculties do not evaluate their applications.

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The life of a student is quite expensive, so students always look for a bargain. Is there accommodation on campus and what is offered? Also, is it included in tuition costs?

We provide accommodation and give on-campus accommodation guarantee to our international students. Undergraduate students can live either in a 2-person room (3500 USD) or 4-person room (2500 USD).

Graduate students can live either in a 2-person room or a single room.

Accommodation costs are not included in tuition fee. Other living expenses like books, meal, transportation will be around 3000-4000 USD per year.

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Sabanci offers a wide range of programs separated into three schools: the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the School of Management. What courses are most popular?

Mechatronics Engineering, Management, Economics, Industrial Engineering and Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioengineering are the most popular programs among international students. We have 500+ degree students from 60+ countries. To illustrate, we have students from Asian countries such as India and Pakistan, MENA countries such as Iran, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, Syria, Qatar and CIS countries such as Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. We also welcome exchange students every semester and they are coming from mostly European countries like Germany, Netherlands, France.

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With globalization in process, English language has all but become universal.

What language qualifications do students need to study at Sabanci?

The medium of instruction at Sabancı University is English. We have both international and Turkish staff who took their PhDs abroad mostly and all programs are taught in English. Therefore, all undergraduate students are required to take the Sabancı University English Language Assessment Exam (ELAE) or submit one of the English Proficiency Exams Sabancı University accepts. Students who pass our exam shall begin their freshman year. While those who do not meet the standards of English language proficiency should enroll in the School of Languages (SL). Graduate candidates have to submit one of the English Proficiency Exams before starting their studies.

Monthly eddition | August 2019

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Being an international students can get quite difficult at times. Who should we talk to if we encounter any problems?

Sabancı University is very well organized to find solutions to these difficult times. In terms of social life, international students have mentors, who are senior students, on campus. They can easily contact with their assigned mentor any time during the day via social media apps, e-mail and phone.

Each student has an academic advisor, who is a staff member, and they can easily meet their advisors via scheduled meetings. Sabancı University accepts each student as unique without making any distinction between local or international students. That’s why all departments and faculties are always more than welcome to help our students when they encounter any problems. Sabancı University also has a special and separate unit which only focuses on our students well-being in both social and academic life, CIAD – Center of Individual and Academic Development. In this department there are professional psychologists whom students can easily consult to and academic support staff with whom students take private or group sessions.

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There’s nothing like spending quality time with peers to relax after endless hours of studying. Tell us more about the entertainment, sport facilities and extracurricular.

Sabancı University is well aware of the importance of extracurricular activities and cares well-being of the students both academically and socially. We start these activities from the very beginning with our one-week orientation program. In this week, new students meet with each other and senior students, meet and learn more about our student clubs, sport facilities and extracurric-

ular activities. As we highlighted earlier in this interview, we are a campus university and we do have our very own sports center, performance arts center, which is the biggest conference and art center in the Asian side of İstanbul, and cinema hall. In these facilities we have, students or professionals play sports matches, give / listen to concerts, stage / watch plays and organizing movie nights throughout each academic year. Sabancı University has 40+ active student clubs in different varieties from sports to arts.

These clubs are fully established and run by students themselves and Sabancı University always support the clubs and their activities both on and off campus.

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Finally, where are some of your alumni today?

Our graduates can find a job easily in Turkish or global companies within a year after graduation. Some examples of the companies, at which Sabancı University Alumni hold positions Accenture, Coca Cola, Deloitte Touche, Ernst & Young, Ford, Garanti Bank, HSBC Bank, ING Bank, Nestle, and other.

Way to go, students!

Monthly eddition | August 2019

Issue â„– 16

ÂŤ University Âť is undoubtedly the dream of every young intellectual. For those who are eager to know more, to explore more and to go beyond the borders of the real, there is nothing better than a valuable education, especially when it comes to getting an important diploma in any field of research. However, needless to say that in order to achieve a specific aim, one should learn how to stand tall against any sort of hardship.

Personally, at the age of eighteen, I used to have this glamorous thought concerning university. And frankly speaking, I was not mistaken, for it is indeed how I have pictured. Yet, I did not bear in mind that it would cost me lots and lots of sweat and energy.

I used to have this glamorous ideal concept for university life.

At the very first, I felt that I was so miniscule and inexperienced for every time I looked around; the only things I saw were simply mere strangers and huge classes and buildings. Thus, anxiety and worry took over me. Thankfully, I always carry a certain steady self-consciousness which reminds me to focus on my goal and proceed on my journey. Moreover, I have met a lot of friends who are fun to be around and from whom I have learned a lot.

The moral of the story is, at some certain stage, prejudices should be overstepped and since what frightens us, we, the humans, is always the unknown. Once the curtain is unveiled, the mystery will dissolve.

On the one hand, one should work hard and read as much as she/he can. On the other hand, there is always a way to enjoy oneself and hang out whenever he/she pleases.

Which side am I on? I think I would rather choose both since they represent two faces of the same coin. One of the most existential questions is: What do I really want to achieve in this life?

Thus, in order to have a better close up look to one’s aim, a map and a compass are definitely the right tools to get near this aim.

Actually, these tools can be presented through education and knowledge.

Way to go, students!

When it comes to the most surprising thing in the university life, I will definitely mention this type of contradiction that lies between two adversaries:

Throughout my life, I have always been interested in philosophy, history of ideas, etc. because to me, I believe that a well shaped mind can make the difference. Even though it may be a micro difference, at least it can influence others: It will always remain a vicious circle of cause-effect. For this specific reason, I chose to follow what is called: Cross Cultural Poetics. Concerning my post-graduation part, I want to be enrolled in an international organization or even a local one, simply because I want to be heard.

Monthly eddition | August 2019

Issue â„– 16

Brainstorming Sessions That Actually Work Since its inception in mid 20th century, brainstorming has become a business standard for solving problems and coming up with "out-of-the-box" ideas. It is a group activity where no judgement or criticism is allowed, all ideas are game, as many ideas as possible are desirable, and merging ideas is cool. However, while these traditional brainstorming sessions work well when it comes to the quantity of ideas, the same cannot be said for the quality.

IDEA

DESICION

ACTION

You are in a conference room with a bunch of your peers and your superiors, and you are expected to offer your ideas. No pressure, right? Yes, pressure!

Due to this situation, people tend to build off already existing ideas or just go with what the majority thinks thus limiting creativity, and ending up with no original solutions. It might actually work better for individuals to think of ideas on their own, with the problem and their goals clearly defined.

This might even be done before the session itself, and later presented to the team. In kindergarten, then in school, college and in the conference room, the extroverted people usually take the floor while the quiet ones fall into the background. This is why every brainstorming session needs a good moderator. A good moderator will call on the quiet people to speak when it is their

turn in addition to managing the overall conversation, atmosphere, interruptions, etc. Al-

though the initial guiding principle of successful brainstorming sessions was "no criticism allowed", it is actually the opposite. In 2003, Charlan Namath conducted a study in which a team of students was asked to solve a problem without criticizing each other, while the other group was allowed to. Guess what? Other group's ideas were twenty percent better judged by a panel of independent judges. However, criticism should be handled with care - it should only be constructive and non-personal. Challenging and revisiting ideas could lead to greatness. In the end, it's up to you to decide. Do you want a thousand ideas, or do you want twenty good ones?

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Monthly eddition | August 2019

Issue â„– 16

A Chronicle of the University of Manchester The University of Manchester. You might have never heard of it, and yet, quite a lot of things came from here.

Manchester is the place where the atom was split for the first time, where the Industrial Revolution was born, and where the first programmable computer was created by Alan Turing.

The University as we know it is in its present form, was created in 2004 by the amalgamation of the Victoria University of Manchester and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, and before that and since that, quite a lot of things have come from here.

The University of Manchester is ranked 41st worldwide, 8th in Europe and 5th the the UK. And aim for even greater success.

The University is one of the biggest in the UK with a total of approximately 38500 students. Throughout the years, 25 Nobel Laureates and many famous peoples have been a part of the University. You might know Professor Brian Cox OBE who is a well-known physicist, Jane Cocking, the Humanitarian Director of Oxfam or Benedict Cumberbatch CBE, a world known actor.

As for our Nobel Laureates, you might have heard of Ernest Rutherford, who posed the based of the model of atomic structure, Niels Bohr, who studied the structure of the atoms and their radiation, and Arthur Lewis who made major contribution to development economics.

The Motto of the University is "Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity.", and every student aspire

to it. With one of the biggest library in the country and over 400 societies, there is always something to learn or do here.

And you have no excuses : with society going from the Quidditch Club to the MAN MUN society, from the Francophone Society to the Photography Society and from the Oxfam Society to the Polo club, there is always a new thing to discover, you just need to be curious. As for the work, a popular place at the campus in the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons, which is a giant study space opened 24h/7, so if you go there the night before a deadline, you will always find someone you know !

Thus the University of Manchester is like no others, and as Tony Wilson once said about Manchester : "This is Manchester, we do things differently here."

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Monthly eddition | August 2019

Issue â„– 16

Formal v.s. Non Formal Education The Final Countdown Here we are with Eleni Dimitriou, back again to our lovely National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (School of Philosophy). The spring semester has already begun and we have to fix our schedule and select the lessons that we will attend the next months. I am not an exception, so I have to try various lessons to choose what Ι prefer.

On Monday, I attended a new lesson after listening to a friend of mine. The lesson is about human behavior. Unlike the most lessons that I usually attend which are held in enormous amphitheaters full of people this one is a kind of seminar so there are about 20 students in a small classroom.

All the attendants we sat in a circle of chairs. During the first part of the lesson we had an activity in which we participated all of us and then it was the lesson time that it was held in formal way.

[AS I read in an article of Paul Fordham at infed.org (infed.org | Informal, non-formal and formal education programmes): The Coombs typology of educational programmes Definition (1) Informal Education: ‘…the truly lifelong process whereby every individual acquires attitudes, values, skills and knowledge from daily experience and the educative influences and resources in his or her environment-from family and neighbours, from work and play, from the marketplace, the library and the mass media…’

Definition (2) Formal Education: ‘…the hierarchically structured, chronologically graded “educational system”, running from primary school through the university and including, in addition to general academic studies, a variety of specialized programmes and institutions for full-time technical and professional training.’

Definition (3) Non-Formal Education: ‘…any organized educational activity outside the established formal system-whether operating separately or as an important feature of some broader activity-that is intended to serve identifiable learning clientèle and learning objectives.’ (Coombs et al 1973)]

Monthly eddition | August 2019

Well it was an interesting lesson, different for what I have experienced in the University.

Although I have already attended training courses and sessions and I am aware of non formal education, experiencing that into the “kingdom” of the formal education troubled me. Which is the best form of education?

Nowadays, non formal education education is becoming more and more popular and there are thousands of training sessions and training courses (e.g. Erasmus+ programs, SALTO e.t.c.). Although, in the past non formal education was supposed not to be certified now there are certifications and Training the Trainers courses and

Issue № 16

non formal education can be used to teach a wide range of subjects from well-being sessions to history sessions.

Even in some schools there are lessons that are thought in that way.

However, the greatest part of our school and University is based on attending lessons, studying and exams and not on activities. Well, although sometimes attending lessons is quite boring and studying is very tiring and exams are stressful, all of them are necessary for teaching some subjects (e.g. maths) and understanding

completely for example the

science or psychology theories. Well, like my professor combined together the formal and the informal way of

teaching, as I mentioned above, I think that we could the same in schools and bring the non formal education closer to students even in Universities.

Yes, its true that some schools in some countries have already done it but it should be spread more

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widely; As, technology has took over our lives and more and more people are get bored of formal education, education system has to be revised effectively to make students being really interested in school education.

(I know: the article title was promising for a bloody fight but, you know, I had to find a way to catch your eye‌.its all about marketing).

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