Rabia Gul Kirikçilar is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan’s Marsal Family School of Education, where she works on the NSF-funded PreTeXt-Runestone: Open Textbooks Engaging Undergraduates in STEM (PROTEUS) project. Her work focuses on understanding how interactive features embedded in digital mathematics textbooks support student learning and how instructors and students use these resources in undergraduate mathematics courses. She contributes to qualitative data analysis, coding framework development, and collaborative research on student engagement and learning with interactive textbook activities.
Before joining the PROTEUS project, Rabia contributed to the Validating Measures of Quality Instruction (VMQI) project, where she examined instructional quality, equity, and mathematics teaching practices through qualitative analysis of classroom and interview data. Across both projects, she has collaborated with interdisciplinary research teams, contributed to conference presentations and research publications, and strengthened partnerships among researchers across institutions.
Rabia earned her PhD in mathematics education from Marmara University, Türkiye. Her doctoral research focused on EthnoSTEAM, exploring how cultural contexts can be integrated into mathematics teaching to promote meaningful and inclusive learning experiences. Prior to joining the University of Michigan, she worked as a K–12 mathematics teacher, university lecturer, and STEM program coordinator.
Her research interests include mathematics education, qualitative research methods, culturally responsive teaching, technology-enhanced learning, digital mathematics textbooks, and students’ engagement with interactive learning environments. She is passionate about designing and studying learning experiences that improve mathematics teaching and support equitable opportunities for all learners.