Madness in the Method: A Paradox of Inquiry Learning

Hakkarainen and Sintonen (2002) praise the descriptive adequacy
of Hintikka's Interrogative Model of Inquiry (imi) to describe children's prac-
tices in an inquiry-based learning context. They further propose to use the imi
as a starting point for developing new pedagogical methods and designing new
didactic tools. We assess this proposal in the light of the formal results that
in the imi characterize interrogative learning strategies. We nd that these
results actually reveal a deep methodological issue for inquiry-based learning,
namely that educators cannot guarantee that learners will successfully acquire
a content, without limiting learner's autonomy, and that a trade-o between
success and autonomy is unavoidable. As a by-product of our argument, we
obtain a logical characterization of serendipity.