Inquiryä

Inquiryä is a term used to describe a structured, iterative inquiry process designed for educational and research settings. It emphasizes question formation, evidence gathering, and the justification of claims, with an emphasis on transparency and reflection throughout the workflow.

The coinage blends the English word inquiry with the diacritic ä as a stylistic marker, and appears in scholarly and educational technology contexts to signal a reflexive, cross-disciplinary approach to questioning.

Core elements of inquiryä include explicit stages: framing a research question; exploring sources and data; developing provisional claims; testing claims against evidence; synthesizing findings; and sharing outcomes with commentary on limitations. The process favors collaborative work, documentation of decisions, and iterative revision.

Applications span classrooms implementing project-based learning, graduate-methods courses, and user-centered design projects in which participants vary the inquiry path based on initial results. Proponents cite benefits for critical thinking and metacognition, while critics caution that the method can be resource-intensive and requires clear assessment criteria to compare progress across groups.

Related concepts include inquiry-based learning, the scientific method, and design thinking.