The Myth of Learning Styles

The Learning Styles Educational Neuromyth: Lack of Agreement Between Teachers’ Judgments, Self-Assessment, and Students’ Intelligence. The issue of learning styles (LS) have been overwhelmingly embraced by teachers and the public for over forty years. International surveys of teachers have shown more than 90% believe that grouping students into categories, like auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learners, or concrete versus abstract learners will enhance student achievement. This study examined the hypothesis that teachers’ and students’ assessment of preferred LS correspond. The study found no relationship between pupils’ self-assessment and teachers’ assessment. Teachers’ and students’ answers didn’t match up. The study suggests that teachers cannot assess the LS of their students accurately. This is important because if teachers cannot accurately identify which style is preferred, they cannot assign the appropriate curriculum to each student. For a thorough summary on research on this topic the article by Daniel Willingham, “Does Tailoring Instruction to Learning Styles Help Student Learn?” offers arguments for and against LS. At this time the preponderance of evidence finds learning styles to have no basis in fact, despite the very strong and persistent preference teachers and the public have for the concept.

Citation:Papadatou-Pastou, M., Gritzali, M., & Barrable, A. (2018). The Learning Styles Educational Neuromyth: Lack of Agreement Between Teachers’ Judgments, Self-Assessment, and Students’ Intelligence. Front. Educ. 3:105. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2018.00105

Link: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2018.00105/full