Debunking the myths of learning 

We spend a lot of time helping children learn things, but how much time do we spend thinking about how to best do that? In “The Science of Learning”, we’ll explore what research says about how we best learn. Most importantly, we’ll find out how we can apply theories and research to our real lives as parents, mentors, teachers, and learners. 

When you were in school, did you ever take a “learning style” test? Those tests told you that you were predisposed to learning through a certain type of instruction (ex. Visual, auditory, or kinesthetic) and that you just needed to discover your unique style to succeed. Teachers have also been told they should tailor their lessons to best fit the “learning styles” of the students in their classroom.

Unfortunately, like many “common sense” ideas about learning, the scientific evidence backing up this theory is middling at best. Even though 95% of people believe in this concept, it might not be the whole story (American Psychological Association). Today, we’ll dive into what science knows about where learning preferences matter – and where they don’t.

1. The existing evidence

Existing evidence currently suggests that “learning styles” don’t influence how students truly learn. For instance, in a study conducted by cognitive psychologists, students were given study methods that supposedly correlated with their learning style. However, students often didn’t study in ways that reflected their perceived learning style, and those who did didn’t perform any better on tests (The Atlantic). Other studies have also reached similar conclusions – learning styles don’t objectively improve a student’s quality of education and has often been dubbed a “neuromyth” (WIRED).

Research indicates this may be the case because different concepts require different types of knowledge; for instance, it is probably difficult to explain a piece of music with only words, just as it might be difficult to explain how a car works with only pictures. Furthermore, Yale’s Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning suggests that students learn best when they use multiple modalities (types of learning) and perspectives because this helps the student see a problem or concept in different ways. However, this doesn’t mean there is no such thing as learning styles. We intuitively recognize that people often have preferences for learning – they have ways of learning they like more. However, based on what we know so far, liking a style of learning more doesn’t mean students truly learn more when using it.

2. Why we’ve fooled ourselves

If the evidence for tailoring teaching to learning styles is so sparse, then why do teachers, students, and the general public continue to believe in what appears to be more myth than method? There are a few different explanations:

1. A bias towards individualism in Western society – it’s very common in Western societies like ours to see each individual as unique, with strengths and weaknesses that cannot be compared to other people. It seems to logically follow that we might all have individual learning styles too.

2. The self-fulfilling prophecy (Positive Psychology) - when students are told (either by themselves, a quiz, or their teachers) that they learn best a certain way, their brain automatically begins to filter out experiences that do not fit with that worldview. As a hypothetical example, let’s say Sara has been told she is a great auditory learner. She’ll remember all the times she heard information and learned it really well and all the times she was only allowed to see information and didn’t understand a concept, but she won’t remember times she heard information and didn’t fully understand it. Even worse, in some cases, because a student believes they learn best in one way, they end up self-sabotaging learning that doesn’t involve that one learning style because they’ve been told they are just one kind of learner.

3. Marketing - many education companies love the idea of learning styles because it allows them to sell products that promise to tailor lesson plans to the learning needs and styles of any student or tests that promise to uncover our ‘unique learning style’. As a result, to meet their bottom line, companies have an active incentive to promote this idea (WIRED).

3. How this impacts teaching and learning

If you’ve believed that learning styles should play a big part in how you learn or teach, don’t feel bad! You are far from alone. However, it’s time to take a look at what science says about this likely neuromyth. Consider the impact we’ll have on students' lives if we no longer limit them to just one way or learning and instead open them up to learning in the ways that work for the given situation. The possibilities are eye-opening