Who We Are

The Inq-ITS Project was started in Dr. Gobert’s lab at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2007. From the beginning, the Inq-ITS Project sought to utilize cutting edge learning science research and revolutionary data mining techniques to engage students in rigorous virtual science labs with real-time assessment and scaffolding to optimize student learning. We believe in order to be successful in the 21st Century, students need their education to go beyond rote memorization. Our goal is to create virtual science labs that help students to master critical thinking skills that will help them succeed in the classroom and beyond.

Meet the Creators of Inq-ITS

Janice Gobert, CEO / Co-Founder

Janice Gobert (Ph.D., Cognitive Science, University of Toronto) is an esteemed science education expert with over 25 years' experience who has executed over $25M in federal research funding. She has spearheaded and oversees the research and development of Inq-ITS. Janice is also a Professor of Learning Sciences and Educational Psychology in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. Before joining Rutgers, she was the Co-Director of the Learning Sciences and Technologies graduate program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (2005-2015), and a Senior Research Scientist at the Concord Consortium (1999-2005).

Cameron Betts, Managing Director / Co-Founder

Cameron Betts (M.Sc., Learning Sciences & Technologies, WPI) is Managing Director at Apprendis and has extensive experience in User Centered Design and Usability Testing. Prior to this, he was an Information Architect and Design Lead for many clients including Fidelity Investments, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, and Pfizer. He has designed, moderated, and analyzed hundreds of usability tests. Aside from his managing role, he leads the design of the Inq-ITS and Inq-Blotter UX for students and teachers.

Michael Sao Pedro, CTO / Co-Founder

Michael Sao Pedro (Ph.D., Learning Sciences & Technologies, M,Sc., Computer Science, WPI) has worked on Inq-ITS with Janice from its inception. He co-created its novel data-mined approach to assessing students' inquiry processes, and leads all educational data mining and software architecture development efforts. He is also PrincipaI Investigator on Apprendis' SBIR for developing the Inq-Blotter teacher alerting dashboard. Prior to WPI and Apprendis, he was a Senior Software Engineer for BAE Systems, Advanced Information Technologies division (formerly ALPHATECH, Inc.) where he specialized in the design and development of intelligent automated systems.

Kaitlyn Cuff

Sales & Marketing

Jason Kleban

Lead Software Engineer

Denise Sao Pedro

Client Success