In the experience of the group there can be various restrictions and boundary conditions, dictated by the setting, context and demands of the university involved. A few of these to consider are:
The kind of laboratory available
The required student knowledge for the lab course;
The number and kind of teacher (assistant)s;
The kind of result expected of the student (product, report, presentation, exam);
The kind of testcase / example / prescribed practice run (procedural);
The possible information (literature, books, etc.) and people (experts) a student could use;
Assessment details – final score calculation, weights, assessors;
Open inquiry projects are much more time intensive than closed inquiry projects.