Mythbusters: Learning Styles

Have you ever been told you're a 'visual learner’ or that your friend learns best by listening? What if I told you that these labels might be holding you back? Despite what you've been led to believe, the idea that people have fixed learning styles is more myth than fact. In this blog, we’ll explore the science behind learning and discover why sticking to these labels could do more harm than good. 

My name is Susie Terasaki and I have been working in education for the past six years. I graduated with a degree in Elementary Education from Boston University. From there, I immediately started teaching third grade in a private school in Los Angeles, California. Throughout my years in teaching, I have engaged in many different types of teaching styles in an effort to best reach my classroom of young learners. However, I found that the most engaging activities utilized all other styles of learning, which engaged the multimedia principle of including both words and pictures while also including hands-on activities.

Let’s talk about debunking certain learning myths that seem to continue to persist, no matter what the research suggests! Before we can talk more about learning myths, let’s pause and think about what learning actually is. Learning is a process of building new knowledge, skills, or understanding through experience, or study. It’s how we take in information, make sense of it, and use it in our daily lives, it is even thought to be “one of the most important activities in which humans engage” (Shuell, p. 935). It can be seen not as filling someone’s bucket of knowledge, but instead focusing on how a person’s bucket is filled.  It’s about making connections, figuring things out, and sometimes changing how we think or behave. Ultimately, learning is all about growth and adapting to new situations based on our discoveries.

A perpetual learning myth that seems to live on in infamy is the notion that every person is designated a certain type of learning, such as “auditory learners” who learn best by listening, “visual learners” who learn best through pictures, or “kinesthetic learners” who learn best by doing. In the article, "Do Learners Really Know Best? Urban Legends in Education" written by Paul Kirschner and Jeroen J. G. van Merrienboer, they point out that, despite its widespread acceptance, there is no sufficient scientific evidence to support the idea that tailoring teaching to the different learning styles actually improves learning outcomes. In fact, research shows that learning is not significantly enhanced by aligning teaching methods with a student’s supposed learning style, “Let us make a comparison with food. Suppose that we ask children what food they prefer. Some children might prefer fruit and milk, but the majority will prefer candy and soft drink” (Kirschner & Merrienboer, p. 7). Instead of solely focusing on specific learning styles, Kirschner and van Merriënboer emphasize the importance of using evidence-based teaching methods that work for all learners. Strategies like spaced repetition, retrieval practice, and dual coding (combining words and visuals) have been shown to improve learning across the board. Creating multi-modal authentic learning experiences will  help students process and retain information more effectively than simply trying to match a teaching method to a supposed learning style “The point is that simple two-way interactions between learning styles and instructional methods, based on either a preferential model or a compensation model, do not take into account additional relevant factors such as the nature of the knowledge and skills that are taught or the context in which they are taught” (Kirschner & Merrienboer, p. 7).

So how do we move forward? While the idea that people have fixed learning styles might sound appealing,  it doesn’t hold up under scientific scrutiny. Focusing on universal, research-backed teaching strategies is a much more effective way to support all learners. By moving past the myth of learning styles, educators can create richer, more inclusive learning environments that truly help students thrive. Share what you’ve learned about the myths of learning styles with colleagues, students, and parents. Continuing professional development and understanding the science behind learning can help everyone adopt more effective strategies. And if you are a person who has labeled yourself as a specific type of learner, be open to different ways of learning. Experiment with various methods and find what helps you engage with the material most effectively.

References

Kirschner, P. A., & van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2013). Do learners really know best? Urban legends in education. Educational Psychologist, 48(3), 169-183. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2013.804395

Shuell, T. J. (2013). Theories of Learning. In Anderman, E. M. & Anderman, L. H. (Eds.), Psychology of classroom learning: An encyclopedia. The Gale Group, Inc.