Assessment methods allow students to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of ways. Just as students vary in their cognitive development, they also vary in their learning styles, academic and artistic strengths, and interests. Some may be able to compare and contrast information using graphs, while still others can use simple props to act out scientific ideas. In the same way that science instruction needs to be flexible enough to accommodate the cognitive differences among students, assessment methods also need to be flexible and varied enough to allow students to use their own strengths to show what they have learned. The inherent flexibility of inquiry-based teaching allows students to demonstrate their achievements in a variety of ways.
Scientists use a variety of methods to communicate their findings, and students can do likewise.
Written papers, oral reports, colorful diagrams, graphs, and tables can all be used by students to show what they have learned. Since much of the learning is about the process of inquiry, students can and should also be assessed on their growing abilities to formulate hypotheses, design experiments, and analyze their results. The more holistic assessment methods necessitated by these skills provide a better picture of overall intellectual growth than would the snapshot that is the result of a multiple-choice test. In addition, scientific research draws upon tools from other disciplines, most notably mathematics. Inquiry-based methods can easily be applied to the questions that arise in the other core subject areas students encounter each day.