Hamburgers, baked potatoes and corn are just a few things a group of students from Turkey have adjusted to in Iowa.

Twenty-six graduate students from the School of Education at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, are spending two months teaching and observing at six high schools in Story County as part of the Fulbright Teacher Internship Program.

The Turkish students are paired up with one another and assigned to a class where they create lesson plans in areas such as English, Turkish language, biology and history.

The teachers of those classes are called mentor teachers. If the plans fit the existing class curriculum, they will be taught to the class.

Sinan Tumturk, one of the Turkish students teachers, is teaching Turkish language at Ames High School.

“Students here are more respectful toward the teachers [than in Turkey] — even if they aren’t interested in the lesson, they listen,” he said.

Tumturk said he has noticed some weaknesses in American education, however.

“Turkey is a supporter of America in the Iraq operation, but most of my students don’t know anything about Turkey,” he said.

The mentor teachers for the Turkish students are providing opportunities for the students to understand and practice new instructional strategies, said Connie Hargrave, the coordinator of this year’s program and associate professor of curriculum and instruction.

Benhur Oral is a project assistant for the program.

“This provides an invaluable experience for the student teachers to see how American education is working, or not working, and experience the culture,” said Oral, graduate in curriculum and instruction.

The Turkish student teachers also participate in a home stay in which they spend a night in the home of an American family to observe and experience American lifestyles.

Eray Akyuz, graduate student in education, is teaching biology at Ames High School.

He said he believed his home stay experience was very typical of American life.

He was placed into a household with two children. The family he stayed with served hamburgers, baked potatoes and corn for supper, and most of the evening was spent playing dominoes with the family.

This year’s program also included a field trip to Chicago, where the student teachers spent four days in the city witnessing and being exposed to the culture of a large American city.

The Culture Action Research Project, a new component to the program, includes research studies on an aspect of American culture.

Students will study the popularity and impact of football, especially Cyclone football, on the Ames community, Hargrave said. They will also examine the eating habits and patterns of Midwesterners.

The student teachers will present and showcase findings of their projects at a cultural fair from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday in the Kildee Hall atrium in celebration of Turkish Student Day. Turkish music, food and traditional folk costumes will be featured.