One of the Leading Figures in the Field of Educational Sciences
The Career Journey of Özcan Demirel
Prof. Dr. Özcan Demirel was born in 1943 in Adapazarı-Sapanca, Türkiye. He graduated from Gazi Education Institute and served as a teacher in various schools for ten years. In 1974, he commenced his academic career as a faculty member at Hacettepe University. Having begun his professional journey as a primary school teacher, Prof. Demirel retired from the Department of Educational Sciences at Hacettepe University as a Professor of Curriculum Development.
Prof.essor Özcan Demirel is widely recognized as one of the most distinguished scholars in the field of educational sciences in Türkiye. He is particularly renowned for his contributions to instructional principles and methods, curriculum development, teacher education, and educational planning.
Over a distinguished academic career spanning more than six decades, Prof. Demirel’s scholarly output reflects both depth and breadth: 150 peer-reviewed articles and conference papers, 37 authored or edited books, 14,342 citations, an h-index of 45, and an i10-index of 82. He has delivered hundreds of invited lectures at national and international seminars and conferences and has served as principal investigator for numerous national and international research projects. Beyond his scholarly production, Prof. Demirel has played a pioneering role in consolidating educational associations under a unified structure within the field of Educational Sciences and in initiating and organizing major national and international congresses, including the Educational Sciences Congresses, the Balkan Countries Education Congresses, and the ICCI-EPOK Congresses. He has also contributed to numerous projects conducted by the Ministry of National Education. His publications have been widely adopted as compulsory textbooks in the majority of faculties of education across Türkiye and as foundational resources in pedagogical formation programs and in-service training initiatives organized by the Ministry. To date, he has supervised 371 master’s and doctoral theses, and 43 of his former students currently hold the rank of full professor.
