What Kōkiri Lab is

A scientific inquiry and makerspace studio. A PhD research instrument. A community learning programme.

The problem

Learning improves when thinking is visible, structured, and grounded in evidence. Most tools capture outputs. Kōkiri Lab captures reasoning — how students think, not just what they produce.

How we built it

Kōkiri Lab follows a design-based research approach, developed through iterative cycles in real classrooms. It is grounded in inquiry-based learning, constructivism, and epistemic cognition. Built alongside a PhD at Monash University studying whether digital trace data can detect reasoning quality in Year 7–8 students.

The kōkako

In te ao Māori, the kōkako is a forest voice — curious, persistent, and carrying what matters across distance. In Kōkiri Lab, the kōkako is your design partner: it asks, it never replaces your judgment. The Māui story reminds us that small, careful actions can sustain something essential. VOICE is the inquiry arc — Venture, Observe, Infer, Create, Evaluate — and the wattle tracks how your scientific voice deepens over time: from first measurement to full tohu.

Have your say

Work in STEM education, learning analytics, educational technology, or data governance? Tell us what you make of Kōkiri Lab in the Professional Perspectives Survey →