What I like most about this video is the analogy of the cycle of inquiry being similar to a game of pinball. You do not progress through an inquiry in a linear manner. Instead you revisit, revise and retest ideas, questions and theories. The visual design of many inquiry cycles has lead to these sorts of questions being posted in social media forums:
In fact, last year Kath blogged about her own inquiry cycle in order to bust some myths relating to it.
The
visual produced in the video includes some nice animation that hasn't
been captured on the screen shot. Essentially its the grey arrows that
play such a big role in this model. They rotate back and forth, in and
out of the green circle. It aides to highlight the notion that when we
inquire into something we're continually gathering and interpreting
data, analysing outcomes, gathering feedback, exploring and
discovering.
Perhaps
the title of this post is a little misleading. There is still a
cyclical process involved with inquiry, but it is important for us to
remember that no inquiry (or writing) cycle was designed to be a linear, hierarchical process. It's messy, unpredictable and continuous.
Check out the video for a more detailed explanation and some links to
further reading.
