Learning Styles Debunked

Are learning styles a myth, or is there evidence behind them?

I am sure everyone has heard of learning styles. If you have not, they are methods by which individuals take in, organise, and process the information that they learn. This happens in any environment where people learn something, such as in school where students apprehend information taught by their teacher. A popular understanding is that if a student learns lesson content taught in their most suited learning style, then they will process that information better. In this article, learning styles specifically refers to the theory stating that there are ways that individuals learn best. Though, is this actually true or is it a myth?

The three most popular learning styles you might have heard of are ‘visual’, ‘auditory’, and ‘kinaesthetic’. Visual learning is learning by seeing, auditory is learning by hearing, and kinaesthetic is learning through physical activity. Generally, there exist more learning styles and teachers have been trying to integrate them into their lessons. However, the question still remains whether they are effective.

The effectiveness of learning styles is grounded in the idea that individuals can identify a style they consistently use to learn most effectively, and that using a different style may hinder their performance. However, there is no validated research to support these assumptions. Asking students what style they find most effective is largely based on their preferences and cannot be validly measured in any way. A student might prefer reading information to learn rather than listening to it, but it does not mean that they would not be able to learn effectively by listening. Therefore, learning styles are confused with learning preferences, that measure the student’s subjective recollection of success obtained by them.

Additionally, students tend to learn different information through multiple methods that they tailor to themselves. This is due to the fact that different information is processed in different parts of the brain, leading to a variety of learning abilities, talents, and skills. Therefore, one student might prefer to learn history by reading textbooks (“visually”) and learn how to ride a bike by physically doing it (“kinaesthetically”). In this case, one method is just as successful as the other. Year after year, research scientists try to find grounding evidence of the success of using learning styles in lessons, but every year the proof eludes them. There is no empirical evidence for the theory.

Consequently, we can conclude that teaching in a learning style “tailored” to a student’s ability does not increase achievement, there is just no evidence to support this claim. Nevertheless, some people might have heard of success of implicating a learning style for students, why can this be? Thinking that the theory is valid, teachers have implemented a combination of visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic learning to tailor the lesson content to all students. This generated success due to the fact that they used a multi-modal learning approach, meaning that students were more attentive and interested in the content because there were more ways they could engage with the lesson. Ultimately, this event shows the effectiveness of teaching with different modalities rather than the success of one learning style.

Finally, instead of trying to find one learning style and sticking to it, students should use multiple techniques to improve their learning. This could be reading information and then practicing active recall. Or it could also be using spaced repetition of subjects, self-testing, and teaching others the content.

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Citations:

“Roundup on Research: The myth of "learning styles".” Roundup on Research: The myth of "learning styles" | Online Teaching, https://onlineteaching.umich.edu/articles/the-myth-of-learning-styles/#:~:text=Most%20studies%20of%20learning%20styles,it%20is%20still%20a%20myth, Accessed 23 January 2025.

Furey, William. “The Stubborn Myth of "Learning Styles".” Education Next, 23 Jan. 2025, https://www.educationnext.org/stubborn-myth-learning-styles-state-teacher-license-prep-materials-debunked-theory/.