The Myth of Learning Styles

How do you learn best? Most people can answer this by talking about the learning styles if they’ve been in North American school systems. It’s a common belief that everyone learns in different ways. Some people think that there are specific learning styles for different types of people – auditory, visual, or kinesthetic. However, research has shown that this isn’t true – everyone learns in all three ways.

People who learn in their preferred learning style do not perform any better than those learning in another style.

There is no credible evidence that learning styles exist.

– Derek Muller

If you think about how much we are still learning about the brain, it should be no surprise that our knowledge of how people’s brains learn is still flawed. The view of learners being so unique in their learning styles is not supported by research.

What’s important is what is happening inside the learner’s brain. Actively thinking about material, solving problems, having conversations, and imagining possibilities if variables are changed. Those are the ways to engage your conscious thoughts.

The best learning experiences are those that involve multiple different ways of understanding the same thing.

– Derek Muller

So what does this mean for teachers? It means that we need to be flexible and adapt our teaching methods to meet the needs of our students. Teaching students that they learn best in certain styles might actually discourage them from learning in other situations.

The science of learning dispels the myth of different learning styles. We all learn best when we are actively engaged in the process and our environment is stimulating. In this video, you will hear about some of the research on how people learn and discover new information. Watch it now to find out more about how your brain works and how you can use that knowledge to improve your learning experience.