We wanted to write a blog article related to our interviews.
ÇİĞDEM: 10 INTERVIEWS
Çiğdem interviewed with 4 preparation year students, 3 deparment students and 3 of the METU Lecturers.
Here are some sections of the interviews and useful feedbacks.
Deniz: Deniz is from Geological Engineering. She is from preparation school. She stays in 7th dormitory, and she is 19 years old. It is her first year at METU. She had previously lived in Ankara. When we asked about her problems at METU, she mentioned that cafeteria is closed at the weekend, Çatı and cafeteria are crowded in the ending of class hours. She hated waiting in the lines, for instance in the bank in campus. Making friends was hard for her in the second term, she is also unhappy about the lecturer. She wants to improve her English.
She wanted an application to meet a foreign student and improve her English.
She becomes aware of the activities at school as follows: Through the Internet > Instagram > ODTÜ Etkinlik Takvimi, METU Students Clubs'Accounts, ODTÜ Gezi, METU Events
She was a bit worried about her department, because she has no idea about the geological engineering right now. She likes to participate in events. She wants to see events more regularly. She missed some of her favorite activities. She attends an event if she likes it, without thinking about the money spent. She spends an average of 100 TL per month to these.
She would downloaded Kampüste App. She wanted the internship opportunities, career opportunities, lecture notes and old exam questions in this application.
Günsu: Günsu is from Economics department. She is from preparation school. She lives with her family. She is 19 years old. She commutes to school every day. She had previously lived in Ankara. When we asked about her problems, she mentioned the largeness of campus, lackness of student service that takes you home and waiting in lines. For her, the price increase as a problem, but she added that the prices were cheaper than the outside. Making friends was hard for her. She suffered hardship for the 2nd semester class changes. She wants to develop her English.
She wanted an application to meet a foreign student and improve her English.
She enjoys attending activities. She was aware of the activities at school as follows: from her friends, banners in the METU DBE and through the Internet > Instagram.
She wants to see events more regularly. She wants the events to be shared beforehand. She participates in events that interest her. She allocates the budget accordingly.
She would downloaded Kampüste App. She said that if the application was successful, she would be able to use it until the end of the school, even after graduation. She wanted to activities to be shared in this application. She asked the application to be in categories and to give information about METU and METU lecturers. She said the preparatory students could be given preliminary information about the departments. For her, things that cannot be found on the Internet should be put in the Kampüste App.
Berkay: Berkay is from Chemistry department. He is from preparation school. He is 20 years old and lives in 8th dormitory. He is from Sakarya. When we asked about his problems at METU, he said that he had a hard time finding accommodation in the first place. He complained about the crowded campus, waiting in lines. He usually hangs out in campus. 2nd term of preparatory school was hard for him because his class is changed. Making new friends was hard for him. He knows people from his department. His English level is advanced.
He wanted an application to meet a foreign student and improve her English.
He becomes aware of the activities at school through banners. He wants to be aware of the activities more. He wants to see these regularly. He missed some of his favorite activities. He would go to career events. He usually spends an average of 150 TL per month to these activities.
Baturalp: Baturalp is from Chemical Engineering department. He is from preparation school. He is 20 years old and lives in 8th dormitory. He is from Konya. When we asked about his problems at METU, he said that the cafeteria and campus are crowded, he was sick of waiting in lines. Making new friends in 2nd term was hard for him. He knows people from his department. His English level is pre- intermediate.
He wanted an application to meet a foreign student and improve her English.
She becomes aware of the activities at school as follows: banners in the METU DBE and through the Internet > Instagram and Facebook.
He wants to be aware of the activities more. He wants to see these regularly. He missed some of his favorite activities. He usually spends an average of 200 TL per month to these activities.
Berkay and Baturalp would use Kampüste App. Berkay said that Kampüste should include images and videos related to history of METU (old and new pictures). He added that comments of students from his department should be in this app. In this way, he would be informed and got prepared about his department.
Gizem: Gizem is from Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering. She is from Adıyaman. She is a 4th year student and she will graduate in 2020. She is 22 years old, she lives in Faika Demiray dormitory. When we asked about her problems at METU, she mentioned that cafeteria is closed at the weekend and campus is very crowded. Making friends was not hard for her.
She wanted an application to meet a foreign student and improve her English.
She becomes aware of the activities at METU through web sites. She is interested in yoga, and for this she checks the METU Office of Sports Website. She does not use Facebook regularly. She wants to be aware of the activities more. She did not miss any events she loved. She attends the event she wants.
Mustapha Yussif: Mustapha is from Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering. He is from Ghana, he is 24 years old. He is a 3rd year student. He lives in Ankara, away from campus, he commutes to school every day. METU is his second university. When we asked about his problems at METU, he mentioned that cafeteria is closed at the weekend. Making friends was not hard for him, but when he came to school he had some difficulties.
He wanted to help Turkish students in speaking practice and mentoring.
He becomes aware of the activities at METU through Internet. He came from Hacettepe University. He wants to be aware of the activities more. He wants to see these regularly. He usually attends events that are free.
Berkay: Berkay is from Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering. He is from Adana. He is 23 years old and he lives in 6th dormitory. When we asked about his problems at METU, he mentioned that cafeteria is closed at the weekend. Also, finding a parking lot, waiting in lines were hard for him.
He wanted an application to meet a foreign student and improve her English.
He becomes aware of the activities at METU through banners in library. He wants to be aware of the activities more. He wants to see these regularly. He usually spends an average of 200 to 300 TL per month to these activities.
They would use Kampüste App. They wanted to get counseling service from METU alumni. They wanted to improve their language. Gizem wanted to see articles related to her department in Kampüste App.
Lastly, Çiğdem interviewed with METU Lecturers.
Semra Aşçıgil: She is a METU graduate. She becomes aware of the activities through mail groups. She checks the METU website for the activities. Sometimes, she checks the METU Alumni e-mail groups. She said that if you include calender in your app, it would be useful. She is bored of messages because these are a lot. She also said that informations about courses can be misleading because students may write wrong comments about them. Students believe in negative comments about courses. Lastly, told us our app requires responsibility.
Melek Akın Ateş: She becomes aware of activities at METU through METU Rectorate e-mail system. She said that she would download our app after it is popular. Students will use it. It can be time - effective. METU Alumni may use Kampüste App for networking. Lastly, she added that lecturers and other graduates will not use our app at the same frequency.
Uğur Soytaş: He is a METU graduate. She becomes aware of activities at METU through mail groups. If he lived in Ankara and worked outside of METU it would be logical to use the application. Popularity would be effective for him. He is a member of METU Alumni Association.
MINA: 9 INTERVIEWS
Claire: She is a teacher from preparation school. She had good ideas for our app. She suggested to make mentorship program for graduates and students. Also, about the projects she said that students and teacher get interactions in these project and gain some experinces. She would be really happy to be informed via mail.
Ege: He is a 3rd grade student. He lives in 100. Yıl. Mostly he does not engage with activities but for the app he would be really happy to see the part of home roommates and then he would use this actively.
Duygu: She is a 4th grade student. She lives with her family. She has a car so she wanted a feature related to car sharing because of parking lot problem in our university. She also suggested a part for transportation time and showing that how somebody can go somewhere from the campus. She would this application.
Nazlıcan: 4th grade student, she is a member of student club for arranging spring festival in the campus. She had some questions about our app because it includes lots of features and categories. However, she suggested to add a feature that is similar to calendar so one person will see what's happenning in the calendar and make the plan easily.
Samet: 1st grade student, he had some issues regarding socialiation so he wanted anonymous feature and meet with other people. Also, he complained about the crowded campus and waiting queues.
Bilge: 3rd grade student, she said she would use the app and suggested to add notification feature so people will remember what to do. Also, selling some tickets, or second hand unused materials on the side.
Other people said mostly same ideas and most of them chose to use app as a channel and it should be free, they don't have any intention to pay.
The Number of Interviews: 24
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