Learning Styles Is A Myth.

  The other evening I ran across a new instructional technique or at least one that is new to me and in it, the author of the article made a comment about knowing your student's learning style.

I've seen tests for students to take and books on ways to teach to meet the needs of the various learning styles but recently, I've come across information that this particular view is wrong.

Evidence is coming out that teaching based on student learning style is a myth.  In other words, the belief that student performance increases if instruction is tailored to a students preferred way of learning is totally wrong. 


Although there is a significant amount of literature available on learning styles, very little has been carried out using an experimental methodology designed to test its validity in regard to education. The studies that did use a proper methodology, produced results contrary to the prevailing view point.  
There are indications that students with good working memories  do better in all subjects regardless of preferred learning style. This could be because students with good working memories are able to adapt to different learning styles no matter how the information is presented.

It also appears that our best learning is not via our preferred style but is based instead on the type of material being presented.  For instance, its harder to learn a foreign language using only pictures while its hard to teach geometry using only verbal language.  What research does say is that novices learn better from examples while those who are more advanced learn better by solving problems themselves.

One scientist postulated the idea of learning styles came from research indicating that different parts of the cortex play a different role in visual, auditory, and sensory processing.  This birthed the theory that students should learn better depending on what part of their brain works better, however, this unsound assumption does not sit well due to the interconnectivity of the brain.

So over the past few years, this particular educational theorem blossomed. This is not to say that teachers should present information in only one form. All learners benefit from having the information presented in a variety of ways that engage a students senses.  By presenting the material using a variety of methods, it keeps students from getting bored and they learn better.  As long as the activity furthers a students knowledge of the subject, it doesn't matter if they are dancing, acting, or singing a song.

Furthermore,  when people discuss learning styles, they are actually saying cognitive ability is learning style but its not.  Cognitive ability effects a student's ability to learn but at learning style does not. So from very current reputable sources, we now know that learning styles is a myth that has been debunked.  I am glad to know this because I get tired of looking up information and finding it based on this rather than on the best ways to present material to my students.

I'd love to hear from everyone on their thoughts on this topic.  Have a great day.