Vecihi Serbay Zambak, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of mathematics education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Zambak directs the mathematics programs, and serves as the program director of Interdisciplinary Studies for Educators. Prior to joining Monmouth, he has taught secondary mathematics in private and public high schools in Istanbul, Turkey, and in the Netherlands. He earned his Master of Science in Mathematics and Science Education from the University of Amsterdam, where his thesis focused on a quasi-experimental study of ninth-grade students mathematical reasoning with numerical systems.

Both his doctoral and post-doctoral studies at Clemson University and Marquette University focused on preparation and development for STEM teachers. His research interests center around STEM teachers’ professional noticing, argumentation skills, content learning with technology, and interdisciplinary teaching abilities. Zambak utilizes mixed methods research and teaches the EDD-752: Quantitative Research course in the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership program.  

Education

Ph.D.., Curriculum & Instruction (Mathematics Education), Clemson University, Clemson, SC

M.S., Mathematics & Science Education, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

B.S., Teaching Secondary Mathematics, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey

Research Interests

Zambak’s overall research interests center around the development of pre-service mathematics teachers’ content knowledge in technology-driven learning environments with a focus on reasoning, justification, and proof. His research also includes attention to professional noticing, interdisciplinary teaching, and STEAM education.

Scholarly Articles

Refereed Journal Articles:

• Zambak, V. S., & Magiera, M. T. (2020). Supporting grades 1-8 PSTs’ argumentation skills: Constructing mathematical arguments in situations that facilitate analyzing cases. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 51(8), 1196-1223.
• Magiera, M. T., & Zambak, V. S. (2020). Exploring prospective teachers’ ability to generate and analyze evidence-based explanatory arguments. International Journal of Research in Education and Science, 6(2), 327-346.
• Zambak, V. S., & Tyminski, A. M. (2019). Examining mathematical technological knowledge of pre-service middle grades teachers with Geometer’s Sketchpad in a geometry course. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 51(2), 183-207. Book Chapters and Conference Proceedings:
• Zambak, V. S., & Mulyono B. (2019). Developing and using the law of cosines: Using star maps as a context. In J. A. Bazler, & B. L. Van Sickle (Eds.), Cases on models and methods for STEAM education (pp. 274-288). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
• Zambak, V. S., & Carduner, K. M. (2019). How to support teacher noticing: Perspectives on different media representations. In M. Graven, H. Venkat, A. Essien, & P. Vale (Eds.), Proceedings of the 43rd Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 4, p. 115). PME: Pretoria, South Africa.
• Magiera, M. T, & Zambak, V. S. (2018). Noticing student generalizations and justifications: Does task context matter? In E. Bergqvist, M. Österholm, C. Granberg, and L. Sumpter (Eds.), Proceedings of the 42nd Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 5, p. 106). PME: Umea, Sweden.
• Zambak, V. S., & Magiera, M. T. (2018). Pre-service K-8 teachers’ professional noticing and strategy evaluation skills: An exploratory study. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(11). DOI: https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/92021
• Zambak, V. S., Alston, D. M., Marshall, J. C. & Tyminski, A. M. (2017). Convincing science teachers for a practical change towards inquiry-based instruction: Revisiting Guskey’s staff development model. Science Educator, 25(2), 108-116.
• Zambak, V. S., & Tyminski, A. M. (2017). A case study on specialized content knowledge development with dynamic geometry software: The analysis of influential factors and technology beliefs of three pre-service middle grades mathematics teachers. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 19(1), 82-106.
• Alston, D. M., Marshall, J. C., & Zambak, V. S. (2017). Inquiry instructional practice in middle school science classes: Applying Vroom’s VIE theory of motivation. Science Educator, 26(1), 1-10.
• Tyminski, A. M., Haltiwanger, L., Zambak, V. S., Horton, R., & Hedetnieme, T. (2013). Developing inquiry practices in middle grades mathematics teachers: Examining the introduction of technology. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 13(4), 325-359. Retrieved from http://www.citejournal.org/tempcite/vol13/iss4/mathematics/article1.cfm.
• Tyminski, A. M., Zambak, V. S., Drake, C., & Land, T. (2013). Using representations, decomposition, and approximations of practices to support prospective elementary mathematics teachers’ practice of organizing discussions. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 16(6), 1-25.
• Linder, S. M., Ramey, M. D., & Zambak, V. S. (2013). Predictors of success for school readiness: A selective review of the literature. Early Childhood Research & Practice, 15(1). Retrieved from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v15n1/linder.html

Book Chapters and Conference Proceedings

• Zambak, Vecihi S. and Budi Mulyono. 2020. “Developing and Applying the Law of Cosines: Using Star Maps as a Context.” In Cases on Models and Methods for STEAM Education, edited by Judith Ann Bazler and Meta Lee Van Sickle, 274-288. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
• Magiera, M. T, & Zambak, V. S. (2016). Exploring quality of PSTs’ arguments in “constructing” and “critiquing” situations. Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Research Conference, San Francisco, CA.
• Zambak, V. S., Richie, J. W., Mehrotra, S., & Magiera, M. T. (2016). Middle school pre-service teachers’ mathematical argumentation on crypto-arithmetic problems. Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from the AERA Online Paper Repository.
• Zambak, V. S., & Tyminski, A. M. (2016). Construction of an analytical framework to explore prospective teachers’ technological content knowledge for geometry. Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from the AERA Online Paper Repository.
• Zambak, V. S., & Tyminski, A. M. (2015). Specialized content knowledge development with GSP: A case study. Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (p. 1258), East Lansing, Michigan.
• Zambak, V. S., & Magiera, M. T. (2015). An exploratory analysis of pre-service middle school teachers’ mathematical arguments. Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (p. 428), East Lansing, Michigan.
• Tyminski, A. M., Land, T. J., Drake, C., Zambak, V. S., & Simpson, A. (2014). Pre-service elementary mathematics teachers’ emerging ability to write problems to build on children’s mathematics. In J. Lo, K. R. Leatham, & L. R. Van Zoest (Eds.), Research trends in mathematics teacher education (pp. 193-218). New York, NY: Springer.
• Zambak, V. S., Alston, D. M., Tyminski, A. M., & Marshall, J. C. (2013). Inquiry in motion: An investigation of a professional development program to change teachers’ beliefs. Proceedings of the 35th annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 1093-1096), Chicago, Illinois.

Presentations/Invited Talks

• Zambak, V. S. (2020, February). Critiquing secondary students’ reasoning within static and dynamic geometry environments: Analyzing PSTs’ specialized content knowledge. Paper was presented at the twenty-fourth Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, Phoenix, AZ.
• Kamei, A., & Zambak, V. S. (2019, November). Exploring elementary pre-service teachers’ perceptions and abilities to notice mathematical thinking of students with special needs. Paper was presented at 2019 Annual Conference of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, New Orleans, LA.
• Carduner, K. M., & Zambak, V. S. (2019, April). Math teacher-candidates’ perceptions of noticing through different media forms. Poster presented at the Inter-professional Exhibition for Social Work, Education, and Nursing and Health Studies for Student Scholarship Week, West Long Branch, NJ.
• Zambak, V. S., & Magiera, M. T. (2019, February). Does task context matter? Supporting PSTs’ professional noticing skills of student generalizations and justifications. Paper presented at twenty-third Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, Orlando, FL.
• Zambak, V. S., & Magiera, M. T. (2017, April). Pre-service K-8 teachers’ professional noticing and argument evaluation. Poster presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Research Conference, San Antonio, TX.
• Magiera, M. T, & Zambak, V. S. (2016, July). Analysis of arguments formulated by grades 1-8 prospective teachers in “constructing” and “critiquing” problem situations. Paper presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the International Congress on Mathematical Education, Hamburg, Germany.
• Zambak, V. S. (2015, February). The influence of beliefs on five pre-service teacher’s SCK development. Poster presented at 2015 Annual Meeting of Research Council for Mathematics Learning, Las Vegas, NV.
• Zambak, V. S., Alston, D. M., Marshall, J. C., & Tyminski, A. M. (2015, January). Convincing science teachers for a practical change towards inquiry-based instruction: Revisiting Guskey’s staff development model. Paper presented at the 2015 International Meeting of the Association for Science Teacher Education, Portland, OR.
• Zambak, V. S., & Tyminski, A. M. (2014, February). How to impact a teacher’s geometry content knowledge with GSP: A single case study. Presentation at the 2014 Annual Meeting of Research Council for Mathematics Learning, San Antonio, TX.

Professional Associations

• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), member 2012 – present
• Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), member 2011 – present
• National Science Education Leadership Association (NSELA), member 2016 – present

Grant Support/Academic Funding

Grants and Sabbatical Committee, Monmouth University $1065.00, Creativity and Research Grant, 2020-2021

Grants and Sabbatical Committee, Monmouth University $10000.00, Summer Faculty Fellowship, Summer 2020

Supporting Early Career Professionals, AMTE $2700.00, STaR Fellows Program, 2020-2021

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Monmouth University $900.00, SoTL Mini-Grant, 2020-2021

School of Education, Monmouth University $3600.00, Transformative Learning Grant, 2018-2019

Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education, National Science Foundation $1000.00, Postdoc Professional Growth Opportunity, 2017-2018