Meet Our Tutor Merve!

Merve is a tutor at Hub21 Virtual. She is currently in her senior year pursuing a B.S in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Koç University. She engages in research and follows online courses or podcasts to increase her knowledge and experience in AI-related concepts. In this article, you may find inspiring answers from Merve to the questions we asked to know more about her.

Why do you spend your time teaching with Hub21?

It is crucial to teach children programming to build a future generation that has high problem-solving skills and can think outside of the box. I love to witness the enthusiasm of children for STEM subjects. Also, I am passionate about inspiring young girls to become future leaders of science and technology.

How has teaching to code with Hub21 impacted you?

I’ve always been aware of the power of sharing knowledge; therefore, I participated in different teaching activities. However, this is my first time teaching children of age 8-11. Witnessing what a 9-year-old can do with a little guidance increased my hopes for the future.

What are some of your teaching principles or strategies? 

I believe creating connections with past experiences is a powerful tool for permanent learning. I guide my change-makers with questions for them to build connections with their previous experience. Also, I praise my change-makers when they code sub-tasks of the game both because it is an incredible feeling to see them achieve and instant gratification makes them more focused and active during the session.

What are the funny moments you’ve had with your students?

In one of my sessions, we were coding a translator. At the end of the session, one of my students asked me to check out what happens when you write “Are you disco?” to Google Translate. The result was shocking and we laughed a lot. Apparently, Cem Yılmaz jokes are verified by Google. 

The other funny moment that comes to my mind is with a 9-year old student. For a two-person game, we were coding an AI to compete against it. At some point, my little change-maker couldn’t succeed in right-clicking for about 10 minutes, we had to call dad to complete the mission. It was a funny but amazing moment because I realized we are teaching AI to kids, who struggle with the physical components of a computer, and yet, they are extremely good at understanding complex contents.

What do you do outside of teaching with Hub21?

I engage in research and follow online courses or products to increase my knowledge and experience in AI-related concepts.

Team HUB21