Professor
of Education and Learning Sciences
Stanford University
roy.pea@stanford.edu
InquireInquire was a project developed by Jan Hawkins and Roy Pea in 1984 and funded from 1985-1987 by the National Science Foundation. We sought to conceptualize, develop and do research with middle school children a scaffolded environment for supporting the development of scientific inquiry skills.
In Summer 1986 I moved to NYU and Jan Hawkins with Cornelia Brunner created the Inquire environment in Hypercard and developed empirical studies to investigate its uses for learning.
The theory that guided Inquire's development is presented in Hawkins, J., & Pea, R. D. (1987). Tools for bridging everyday and scientific thinking. Journal for Research in Science Teaching, 24(4), 291-307.
Our advisors for Inquire that provided substantial guidance in its early stages were Stephen Toulmin and Mary Budd Rowe.