The Inquiry project is a modular, interactive web-based textbook. Modules are writen and maintained by the professors who adopt the textbook for their classes, using a rudimentary wiki-based interface. The modules can be selected and rearranged by individual instructors to meet specific curricular needs. The content is deliverable via this purpose-built web interface, a facebook application, or can be printed as a course pack to be distributed in the bookstore. If you have any questions about Inquiry, or wish to use the materials in your classroom, click 'Guest access' below and signup!

Inquiry began its life with a simple proposal: to create a modular textbook based on active learning and guided inquiry techniques to teach research methods in the cognitive sciences to undergraduate majors. This first incarnation of the Inquiry project was developed during the 2002-2003 academic year and taught for the first time in the Spring of 2003 at Washington University in St Louis.

Once the class had finished, and we had a moment to review our progress, we noticed that the modular structure we had developed could support a wider variety of classes. And given that we included coverage of many of the basic forms of reasoning discussed in a Philosophy of Science classroom, we found it quite natural to extend the project to cover new courses. New modules were added during the summer of 2003 and the project was used to teach "Basic Scientific Reasoning" at the University of California at San Diego for the first time in the fall of 2004.

Further extensions were added to support 'Critical thinking' courses. In the fall of 2004, the Inquiry project supported 3 classes concurrently: 'Inquiry in the Cognitive Sciences' at Washington University in St Louis, 'Basic Scientific Reasoning' at UCSD, and 'Critical Thinking' at McDaniel college.