Press Kit

Quality Matters: Virtual Science Labs with Real Time Assessment Data

Inq-ITS (Inquiry Intelligent Tutoring System) is an online educational environment for science. With Inq-ITS, students engage in virtual inquiry in Physical, Life, and Earth Sciences. Students form hypotheses, conduct investigations, analyze their data, warrant their claims, and communicate their findings in a claim-evidence-reasoning format. Inq-ITS puts students in control of their own learning, with each participating in their own authentic inquiry experience. As students work, Inq-ITS uses patented algorithms that automatically assess students and generate real-time formative reports on classroom-wide performance for educators on each inquiry skill, summarizing classroom-wide and individual student performance. With Inq-Blotter on their ipad, laptop, or smartphone, teachers receive alerts as to which students need assistance and on what skills. Alerts are automatically prioritized and color-coded so that teachers can move efficiently through the room assisting individual students. Rex, a cartoon dinosaur, can also tutor students’ in real time as they conduct authentic inquiry. This immediate feedback provides the assistance students need to progress and improve their inquiry skills. The distinctive design behind Inq-ITS provides necessary resources for teachers’ instruction and assessment, and for students’ remediation and acceleration on critical NGSS skills.