One of the core goals of Ubien is to make existing Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) material usable in a modern, AI-supported learning environment — without rewriting everything from scratch.

In this post we highlight two key capabilities we’re building into the platform:

IBL PDFs → Structured Online Courses

Many IBL textbooks already come as PDFs with inherent bookmarks and structure (chapters, sections, problems, etc.). Ubien uses that existing structure as a starting point to automatically create an online course:

  • Parse IBL PDFs and read their bookmarks and headings
  • Extract inquiry questions and activities from the material
  • Map sections to course modules and steps, preserving the original learning flow
  • Generate a navigable course that mirrors the textbook, but is now interactive and web-based

The idea is that instructors can upload an IBL PDF they already use, and quickly get a structured, browser-based course out of it — instead of manually copying and pasting content into a new LMS.

ChatGPT API for Question Answering

Once the course is generated, learners often need clarification or extra guidance on individual steps. To support this, Ubien integrates with the ChatGPT API:

  • Learners can answer questions directly on each activity or concept
  • The system sends context (e.g., the current question, surrounding text, and learner progress) to the ChatGPT API
  • The AI responds with targeted explanations, hints, or follow-up questions that stay aligned with the IBL philosophy (guiding instead of just giving final answers)

In practice, this means a student can click “Question”, which is an extracted question from the pdf, in the course and immediately get conversational help, rather than waiting for office hours or email replies.

What’s Next?

Future posts will dive deeper into:

  • How we align AI responses with the intent of the original IBL material
  • Our approach to tracking learner progress and misconceptions
  • The technical details of our PDF parsing pipeline and ChatGPT integration

If you’re interested in IBL, AI tutoring, or would like to try the platform with your own materials, stay tuned for more updates.