An SRP can last as long as desired—from a single session to an entire course (or even years, in the case of a doctoral thesis, which is a type of SRP). It all depends on the generative question we want to explore and the time available. The question can be tightly defined or left more open. We can also work towards a partial result that helps save time.

What’s more challenging is deciding how to end an SRP, since inquiry can continue indefinitely. If we have a deadline (which is usually the case), things change: we progress as far as we can and present the response we’ve reached by that point. In general, questions allow for different types of answers. It’s a very school-based limitation to think that there is only one “correct answer” to the questions we explore, and that this is the one we must reach.