"I have been lucky enough to take three courses with Dr. Ozge Gurcanli, a one-of-a-kind professor who not only invests her time in her students inside the classroom, but also challenges them to extend course content to everyday life. Although she is highly knowledgeable about a wide range of content, from cognition to language acquisition, she consistently expresses her own curiosity and openly facilitates discussions of evolving new ideas and theories. This openness and versatility sets Özge apart from any professor I have had: she selects original research articles to complement more general material; she draws upon her own experiences and encourages students to share their experiences in order to help illustrate more abstract academic content; she invites guest speakers from within Rice and from within the larger Houston community to her classroom. To make the most out of her discussion-oriented classroom atmosphere, Ozge gets to know her students’ names earlier on and treats everyone like budding researchers – which in turn creates a comforting environment for students to both speak up independently and to work within groups to present materials to the class. Ozge’s resourcefulness, creativity, and passion for both teaching and research have been invaluable to my time at Rice."

"Dr. OG is one of the best professors I had the opportunity to learn from at Rice. She is so dedicated to her students learning about not only psychology but also scientific thinking and research skills. She encourages her students to apply their knowledge throughout their lives as students, citizens, and parents. Her high academic standards and engaging teaching methods are matched only by her caring and bright personality. She is always there for her students when they need help or support. Dr. OG inspires me to continually strive to be a better person, and my decision to pursue teaching is due in large part to her.  The world needs more people like Dr. OG!"

"Dr. Gurcanli (or Dr. OG as her students affectionately call her) is inarguably one of the most dedicated and effective instructors I had at Rice. She takes a true interest in ensuring her students understand material and also goes beyond the call of duty to demonstrate course concepts in ways that are truly unforgettable—take for instance her Developmental Psychology course. Dr. OG would often bring her infant daughter to class to demonstrate concepts like object permanence or various aspects of how both nature and nurture contribute to human development. Dr. OG also made relatively complex and sometimes daunting research findings clear and exciting. Her teaching style is inspiring, her fluency in current psychological research is captivating, and her investment in pedagogy is unmatched. She even takes a real interest in all aspects of her students development: she championed my thesis research, writing, and defense process in a way that made me comfortable presenting it at a national psychology convention knowing I had crossed all my Ts and dotted all my Is! Dr. OG is a real gem!" 

"I was in Dr. Gurcanli’s Developmental Psychology class, her Language Acquisition class, and later on was a Teaching Assistant for Developmental Psychology. As an educator, Dr. Gurcanli (or Dr. OG as we like to call her) has the gift of creating an intimate, engaging lecture-style class – even with 40+ students. She asks the right questions to elicit responses and discussions from the class. When I was a student in her class, if we didn’t understand something she would stick with that topic until the class fully understood it and could engage in a discussion on it. Her passion for Developmental Psych and Language Acquisition is clearly evident in class – she is constantly bringing in cool or funny videos, bringing the class to different environments for discussion, having us do (sometimes goofy!) activities during class, and speaking to her experiences as a mother of a developing human and as a bilingual. When I was an assistant for Dr. OG, her passion was even more evident – she kept track of her (at times) 100+ students per semester, and genuinely cared if they were grasping contents and succeeding. Dr. OG typically has a major semester-long project in her Developmental Psych class, and she works with her students directly on it – she is the absolute opposite of professors who only interact with students through their TAs. She encourages open and honest communication, and I felt fully supported by Dr. Gurcanli as her student, her teaching assistant, and still see her as a mentor to me who continues to encourage and support me. "

“Dr. Gurcanli encouraged and emboldened me to put forth conscious effort to learn and grow to the best of my capabilities. It was truly remarkable to see a professor, an esteemed position of which she could have easily hid behind the cloak of authority, take interest in the personal and academic growth of her students. Dr. Gurcanli engaged her students and humbled herself to learn from them as well.  Her intelligence was unmatched, but it was her compassion for developing bright, independent minds that was truly outstanding. Dr. Gurcanli has positively shaped my academic experience at Rice, and I am exceedingly grateful to have learned under her leadership. Thank you Dr. Gurcanli!”

"I've had the pleasure of working with Dr. Ozge both as a research assistant and student, and I can confidently say that she has been one of the best professors and mentors I have had. Her classes are fun, different, interactive, and most importantly, relevant. I loved that we discussed recent literature or even on-going studies, keeping us currently informed. Dr. Ozge's assignments were also unconventional and challenged us to collaborate, learn new skills, and be creative! 

Dr. Ozge is extremely supportive and understanding and will go above and beyond to help you in any way that she can, even when it is outside the context of research or class. For example, when I was a co-founder of a new campus organization (Rice for Women) and needed help funding our first event (writing postcards to government representatives), Dr. Ozge readily reached out and helped provide the stamps needed for the event. The event was a success, and we couldn't have done it without Dr. Ozge's generosity! This is the type of above and beyond support that she gives every one of her students in and out of the classroom, and her loving and unique lighthearted personality makes her very approachable and easy for students to connect with."