PhD: Educational Technology, Bahçeşehir University  

Master’s Degree: English Language Teaching, Yeditepe University 

Bachelor’s Degree: English Language Teaching, Marmara University

Research Interests: Educational Technology, Professional Development, Affective Factors, Instructional Design, First Year Experience

Yeşim Nalkesen Akın worked in an international language school for 5 years after graduating from Marmara University, the ELT Department. During this time, she gained experience in teaching general and academic English, proficiency exams as well as teaching Turkish for foreigners. She also worked at Marmara University as an English instructor for two terms and pursued a master’s degree program in 2007-2008 in the field of ELT. Her master’s thesis centred around vocabulary strategy training and learner autonomy.

From 2010 to 2019, she worked at Işık University as an English instructor; additionally she served in the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Unit, where her responsibilities included conducting needs analysis, designing training programs based on institutional and individual needs and taking on roles in the recruitment process. She started her PhD program at Bahçeşehir University, specialising in the design and development of a professional development program for language through the Framework of Community of Inquiry Model (CoI). She has publications in the field of CoI, educational technology, professional development, and strategy training.

In 2019, she joined Sabanci University as an English instructor. Additionally, she worked part-time at Maltepe University during the 2020-2021 spring semester. She received teaching awards at Sabani University during the terms 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.

Since February 2022, Yeşim Nalkesen Akın has been working as a learning design consultant at the Office for Learning and Teaching Enhancement (OLTE). In this role she offers consultancy to the Faculty of Law and the School of Languages, following the latest scientific research, projects, and practises in the relevant fields. She is actively involved in the development and implementation of the Sectoral education program, a first-year experience program for newly enrolled students, coordinating with relevant parties. Additionally, she offers individualised academic support to Özyeğin University students.