We Need to Teach in a Variety of Ways For All Learners

Did you know that learning styles are a myth? I didn’t know that either until today. While some students might prefer to learn visually instead of auditorily or kinesthetically, this doesn’t mean that they learn better this way. There is not any evidence that proves that learning styles impact learning. In fact there are multiple tests and experiments that have been done that show that when students are presented with material visually vs. auditorily, that the end results on their tests are the same. Although I think of myself as a visual learner, this just means that I prefer to learn visually rather than verbally. When presented with information in a verbal fashion I might actually zone out because I had previously been misinformed about how I learn best.


In the Psych Files Podcast on learning styles, Episode 90: The Learning Styles Myth: An Interview with Daniel Willingham, Willingham discusses how teachers need to keep ability separate from learning styles. Students may have different levels of ability in different content areas, but this does not mean they have different learning styles. He also talks about how everybody does better with visual imagery, not just people who think they are visual learners. The visual aspect in class is important for students to pay attention, whether it is doing a science experiment or tracing countries on a map.

In the video, Learning Styles Don’t Exist, Willingham says, “People learn in different ways. However, this doesn’t really relate to the classroom. Good teaching is good teaching, and teachers don’t need to adjust their teaching to individual students learning styles.” In his second video he further clarifies and says, “Teachers need to differentiate based on students’ interests, learning ability, and motivations, but not because of different learning styles.”

Teachers need to keep in mind that each individual student is different and may have different abilities or interests. Although learning styles are a myth, knowing about learning styles helps teachers to realize that they should be teaching content in a variety of ways for all learners. Teachers need to teach and present information in the following ways in order to benefit all students: visually, verbally, kinesthetically, musically, logically, socially, and solitarily. In his article, Matching Teaching Style to Learning Style May Not Help Students, David Glenn states, “Teachers should worry about matching their instruction to the content they are teaching. Some concepts are best taught through hands-on work, some are best taught through lectures, and some are best taught through group discussions.” There needs to be a mixture of pedagogies in order to have a successful classroom.

In the TED Talks Video, Learning Styles & the Importance of Critical Self-reflection, Tesia Marshik discusses how so many teachers believe and are even told that they need to adjust their teaching based on different learning styles. She says that we learn things in context or in terms of meaning, not based on a particular learning style. She says “We need to stop believing in learning styles, because we are wasting valuable resources, and it is one less thing teachers need to worry about. There is no evidence that shows it actually helps learning. Labeling yourself or a student as a particular learner might prevent you from trying other strategies that help you to learn better. All of us are capable of learning in a variety of ways.” I think that teachers and educators are so drawn to workshops about learning styles because the idea seems to make sense. While it may seem like a complete waste to know about learning styles if they don’t exist, it is partially beneficial to know about them if the teachers can use these ideas to teach to ALL of their students.


References

Britt, M. "Learning Styles - A Grand Myth." The Psych Files. N.p., 2016. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.

Glenn, B. D. (2009). Matching Teaching Style to Learning Style May Not Help Students. Retrieved November 05, 2016, from http://www.chronicle.com/article/Matching-Teaching-Style-to/49497/

Marshik, T. (2015). Learning Styles & the Importance of Critical Self-Reflection. TED Talks. Retrieved November 05, 2016, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=855Now8h5Rs

Willingham, D. (2008). Learning Styles Don't Exist. Retrieved November 05, 2016, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIv9rz2NTUk