Learning Styles Are A Myth

Learning Styles don't enhance learning

While all learners can develop subjective preferences for studying or digesting material, studies deny that students learn better through a self-reported learning style. Instead, scholars increasingly call for educators to replace neuromyths with resources and strategies rooted in evidence from cognitive and adult learning theory. Like many misconceptions about learning and the brain, the belief in learning styles is based on a misinterpretation of valid research and scientifically established facts.

It's true, for example, that different types of information are processed in different parts of the brain. It's also true that people have different abilities and preferences. However, since the 1970s, systematic research reviews and meta-analyzes examining the validity of learning styles and their application in education have come to the same conclusion: despite their intuitive appeal, there's little to no empirical evidence that learning styles are real. Cognitive psychology and neuroscience consider them a neuromyth and reject the idea of adapting instruction to students' preferred learning styles to promote learning. In these fields, belief in learning styles is likened to belief in fortune telling.

In addition to the three core styles, over 71 separate learning-style instruments and theories have been documented in education literature (convergers vs. divergers, verbalizers vs. imagers, deep vs. surface learning, pragmatists vs. theorists...). A variety of websites encourage people to find their learning style. This shows how pervasive and popular the term has become in the culture, and the ways in which online inventory and profiling in quiz culture can distort educational research.

Studying vs. Learning

There is a difference between learning styles and learning processes. You will develop your own preferences for repeating content, but these practices are distinct from deeper cognitive processes such as chunking, building on prior knowledge, making conceptual connections, and transferring knowledge.

Using different approaches

Because learning requires complex, often uneven developmental steps, such as building on prior knowledge, slowly forming conceptual structures, and multiple repetitions, you benefit when instruction provides multiple opportunities to engage in learning.

Multiple modalities can reinforce the quality of the concepts you're learning : for example, research shows that students learn more with words and pictures than with words alone. Multimedia presentation promotes active cognitive processing and thus meaningful learning.

Reflect on how you learn

Research shows that we benefit from having opportunities to reflect on tasks, tests, and activities, and that learning outcomes improve when you think about how you made connections, digested content, or drew conclusions. This process of metacognition helps you reflect on your processes and find ways to improve your learning while avoiding weak thinking or learning habits.

Effective teaching methods can vary by subject and course content

Suggested learning styles don't always fit disciplinary norms; for example, writing courses benefit from a significant verbal component, geometry courses from a visual component, and laboratory courses from an experiential component. Be aware of the predominant presentation styles in your discipline and consider discipline-specific resources to enhance your learning methods.