Professor Mustafa ÇAKIR

Mustafa Çakır completed his primary and secondary education in Antakya and graduated from Gaziantep Science High School in 1993. He earned his undergraduate degree in Biology Education from Gazi University in 1997. He received his master’s degree (2000) and PhD (2004) in Science Education from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Pennsylvania State University. In addition, he holds a second master’s degree (2001) in Educational Psychology from the same university.

In 2007, he was a visiting researcher at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University in Australia, and in 2012 at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. His research focuses on inquiry-based science teaching, students’ engagement in scientific inquiry processes, the nature of science, understanding of biology concepts, development of scientific competencies for 21st-century citizenship, and biology teacher education.

More recently, his work has concentrated on examining students’ cognitive structures in biology learning, enhancing classroom experiences through active learning, evaluating the long-term effects of instructional orientations, and designing assessment tools.

As of 2025, he serves as the Head of the Department of Biology Education.