Close Close

Directory

Vecihi Zambak, Ph.D.

  • Assistant Professor
  • Program Director of Interdisciplinary Studies for Elementary Educators

Department: Curriculum and Instruction

Office: McAllan Hall 209

Office Hours: Tuesdays: 3 – 4 p.m., Wednesday: 2 – 3 p.m., Thursdays 2 – 4 p.m.

Phone: 732-263-5762

Email: vzambak@monmouth.edu


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.

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

Courses

Recently Taught Classes

2023 Summer B

  • Classroom Technologies and Educational Media – ED 632
  • Curriculum Development and Design – EDL 536
  • Digital Media and Instructional Technology Skills for Teachers – ED 315

2023 Spring

  • Curriculum Development and Design – EDL 536
  • Methods of Teaching Elementary Mathematics – ED 360
  • Teaching Elementary Mathematics in Inclusive Settings – ED 556

2022 Fall

  • Advanced Quantitative Research – EDD 752
  • Methods of Teaching Mathematics at the Secondary Level – ED 365
  • Methods of Teaching Mathematics at the Secondary Level – ED 564

2022 Summer B

  • Curriculum Development and Design – EDL 536

2022 Spring

  • Curriculum Development and Design – EDL 536
  • Methods of Teaching Elementary Mathematics – ED 360
  • Teaching Elementary Mathematics in Inclusive Settings – ED 556

2021 Fall

  • Advanced Quantitative Research – EDD 752
  • Methods of Teaching Mathematics at the Secondary Level – ED 365
  • Methods of Teaching Mathematics at the Secondary Level – ED 564
  • Secondary Mathematics Methods Part II – ED 565
  • Secondary Mathematics Methods, Part II – ED 366

2021 Spring

  • Curriculum Development and Design – EDL 536
  • Methods of Teaching Elementary Mathematics – ED 360
  • Teaching Elementary Mathematics in Inclusive Settings – ED 556

2020 Fall

  • Digital Media and Instructional Technology Skills for Teachers – ED 315
  • Methods of Teaching Mathematics at the Secondary Level – ED 365
  • Methods of Teaching Mathematics at the Secondary Level – ED 564
  • Secondary Mathematics Methods Part II – ED 565
  • Secondary Mathematics Methods, Part II – ED 366

2020 Spring

  • Curriculum Development and Design – EDL 536
  • Methods of Teaching Elementary Mathematics – ED 360
  • Teaching Elementary Mathematics in Inclusive Settings – ED 556

Frequently Taught Classes

  • Advanced Quantitative Research (EDD 752)
  • Curriculum Development and Design (EDL 536)
  • Digital Media and Instructional Technology Skills for Teachers (ED 315)
  • Methods of Teaching Elementary Mathematics (ED 360)
  • Methods of Teaching Mathematics at the Secondary Level (ED 365, ED 564)
  • Secondary Mathematics Methods Part II (ED 565)
  • Secondary Mathematics Methods, Part II (ED 366)
  • Teaching Elementary Mathematics in Inclusive Settings (ED 556)