
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
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)