nQuire: Personal Inquiry Learning platform
nQuire is a free open source platform based on Personal Inquiry Learning which allows teachers and learners to carry out scientific investigations and share their findings with the nQuire community.
nQuire is a joint project between The Open University and The University of Nottingham, as part of the UK’s Teaching and Learning Research Programme, TEL. It is integrated with the Open University’s OpenScience Lab to make practical science widely available online. The three-year project was funded by the UK Economic and Social and Engineering and Physical Science Research Councils (ESRC & EPSRC).
The nQuire web-platform supports inquiry-based learning of science topics in formal and non-formal settings including classrooms, homes and discovery centres. Following a scripted inquiry learning process, pupils between the ages of 11 and 14 are guided through devising and planning scientific experiments, collecting and analysing data and discussing results.
Basic information
Studies with school students in Milton Keynes and Nottingham are showing how science inquiry can be initiated in the classroom, supported by a teacher, then continued at home or outside with the computer toolkit supporting the learning activity and providing probes to capture and display data. A key issue identified by the trials is how to design activities that are personally meaningful and engaging, but not so personal that the students are embarrassed to share their evidence. The project is developing and administering a set of methods to assess children’s understanding of the inquiry process, attitudes and personal responses to science, and changes in knowledge of the science topics.
The following questions are being addressed:
- How can scripted inquiry learning support effective learning across transitions between formal and informal settings?
- How do school students and their teachers adopt a computer toolkit for learning?
- How does the experience of scripted inquiry learning assist and change learning activities?
The nQuire platform contains lesson plans that guide learners through a process of finding a topic, deciding on an inquiry question, planning and investigation, collecting and analysing evidence, responding to the inquiry question, sharing results, and reflecting on progress.
Teachers are free to use the nQuire open source software to approach science topics with their pupils using inquiry based learning. On the nQuire platform teachers can choose from a set of ready-made inquiries that can be adapted to suit their pupils’ interests and abilities.
Teachers can also create new inquiries using nQuire’s authoring tools . Moreover, they can monitor progress, giving pupils access to new parts of the inquiry as they complete each stage. The software runs on Windows, Linux and Apple Mac computers, and mobile devices and can be found at: http://nquire.open.ac.uk
The nQuire platform is supported by the following browsers: Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 9 and later, Firefox and Safari.