Learning Styles Myth

A quick primer on research debunking and assessing learning styles. Summarizes research and provides links for further reading.

"There is no evidence that designing lessons that appeal to different learning styles accelerates student learning. Yet teacher candidates are consistently directed to keep these pseudoscientific style categories in mind. The idea of “learning styles” is persistent and popular in the field, in part because many teachers don’t know the science that disproves it. Education and teacher preparation are better when they are informed by empirical evidence than when they operate in disregard of it. It is important to ensure that educators are prepared with accurate insights into learning, instead of with myths."

"The existence of ‘Learning Styles’ is a common ‘neuromyth’, and their use in all forms of education has been thoroughly and repeatedly discredited in the research literature. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that their use remains widespread. This perspective article is an attempt to understand if and why the myth of Learning Styles persists."

"Learning Styles refer to the idea that students learn best when course content is pitched to match students’ self-reported media preferences. The most popular one divides students into three types: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. Yet the overwhelming consensus among scholars is that no scientific evidence backs this “matching” hypothesis of learning styles."

"There is no credible evidence that learning styles exist. While we will elaborate on this assertion, it is important to counteract the real harm that may be done by equivocating on the matter. In what follows, we will begin by defining “learning styles”; then we will address the claims made by those who believe that they exist, in the process acknowledging what we consider the valid claims of learning-styles theorists."

A brief review of some myths, including learning styles, that distract teachers from using evidence based research and ideas.

This brief article from EdWeek gives a breakdown of studies that debunk the learning styles myth and explains how the myth could hinder student learning and growth.

"The present study tested the hypothesis that teachers' and students' assessment of preferred Learning Styles should correspond. . . No relationship was found between pupils' self-assessment and teachers' assessment, suggesting that teachers cannot assess the LS of their students accurately. Moreover, students' intelligence was not found to drive teachers' assessment of their LS."

This short article from APA explores why the myth of learning styles can be harmful to students and may impede their progress.

"Learning styles are a myth – the research is conclusive. What can we take away from this myth, though? What, if anything, can be salvaged from learning styles theory and its relation to empirically-backed learning theories?"