Tools for Inquiry

Cultivating curiosity to bring out the inner scientist in everyone

We pioneered the use of probeware in STEM learning over 30 years ago, and have been hard at work expanding its possibilities and researching its use ever since. Probes and sensors bring a new dimension to hands-on learning, eliminating tedious lab processes and extending learners’ senses to provide new views of everyday phenomena that unfold in real time. Our research has demonstrated probeware’s effectiveness at aiding learning across many grades and topics.

For example,

We’re creating a novel software environment that integrates probeware, video analysis tools, and data exploration capabilities to help students move from scaffolded experiments to open experiments of their own design. Read about InquirySpace.
We’re enabling students to use their tablets as mobile water quality analysis instruments by developing a new mobile app that takes advantage of built-in cameras to perform colorimetric analysis of inexpensive chemical water quality tests. Read more about Water SCIENCE.