dersler

Dersler, Turkish noun meaning lessons, classes, or subjects taught within an educational program. The singular ders can refer to a specific lesson, a class period, or a subject in the curriculum. The word is borrowed from older forms of Turkish, ultimately tracing back to Arabic or Persian dars, meaning lesson, instruction, or reading. In modern Turkish, dersler are central to schooling and higher education.

In compulsory and secondary education, dersler denote the subjects included in the national curriculum. Common examples include Türkçe (Turkish language), Matematik, Fen Bilimleri (Science), Tarih, Coğrafya, Yabancı Dil, and Beden Eğitimi. Dersler are taught according to a yearly or term schedule, with classroom hours, teacher assignments, and ongoing or term-end assessment. Students receive grades for each ders, which contribute to overall averages.

In higher education, ders refers to individual courses that students take to complete a degree. Courses are listed in a curriculum, have prerequisites, and carry credits toward graduation. Many Turkish universities adopt the AKTS (ECTS) system, assigning credit values to each ders and using it to indicate workload. Assessment typically includes exams, coursework, and projects; passing ders is required to progress. Elective ders allow specialization, while compulsory ders form the program’s core requirements.

Outside formal schooling, ders is used in phrases like ders çalışmak (to study) and can refer to private lessons or online courses. The plural dersler is common when listing subjects in timetables or curriculum descriptions.