Learning Styles

Teacher's sometimes find themselves encountering problems when teaching a classroom of students. Some students do not pay attention and the one's that do either understand or do not understand the material being taught. There are alternatives for the students who are having trouble learning the material such as an educational after school program or getting a tutor. Students learn material different ways and it is up to the teacher to find effective ways in which each student should be able to learn the material.

Often referred to as learning styles, these are techniques in which students learn material in different ways. Visual, Kinesthetic and Auditory are types of learning styles. Some students learn best while actually figuring the problem out themselves or watching oral presentations while others learn best by listening to music or simply just studying quietly. There have been various forms of studies done while researching learning styles and different approaches taken to come up with a conclusion into which learning styles tend to be more effective. Some people agree that learning styles do exist, while others do not.

Personally, I feel as if I learn best while listening to music or watching tv. Others may find this distracting, but I find it helpful bvecause while I'm listening to the music or watching tv, my mind is focused on the materiual I am reading. I dont always remember what I read so I also find it helpful to take notes so that I can refer back to the material. I agree that different learning styles allow different people to learn at their own pace and I find them very effective.

Learning Styles

Throughout the last few years, I have had my fair share of teachers and professors that have told students that they each possess different learning styles. For example, some people are supposed to learn classroom material better by listening, some may learn better by studying notes, and other learn better by using their hands. Just two weeks ago, I spent an hour in my health class listening to the same lecture about learning styles that I have heard on many other occasions. Until the recent lecture in “Pseudoscience and the Paranormal”, I was convinced that I was purely a “hands-on” learner according to some test. This would suggest that I learn better in laboratory settings as opposed to a classroom setting. The thing is that looking back throughout the years, I have learned no more in a laboratory setting than I have in classroom lectures.

While the theory behind learning styles seems convincing, there is no legitimate data supporting the myth that kids learn better implementing one specific learning style over another. According to a journal of “The Association for Psychological Science” titled “Psychological Science in the Public Interest”, very few studies have tested the validity of learning styles in education. The few that did completely contradicted the assumption that we all possess different learning styles. Future studies may very well however show some evidence that teaching students in accordance to their specific learning styles is effective. Until then, teachers should only rely on current data, which supports that learning styles are nonsense.

Source: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123216067/abstract

You are NOT a visual learner.

For years I have heard people talk about the various types of learning styles that exist and how to advance the most with the particular style you possess. My mother, who is teacher, has attended numerous workshops and assemblies telling her how to cater to the different learning styles of each student. Visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners are often told they can advance and improve their quality of learning by becoming aware of their strengths and weaknesses. This common myth has sparked various industries of tests, quizzes, and guidebooks to help people discover their learning styles and to "capitalize on their strengths."

A recent study conducted by Pashler et al. (2009) investigated the possible existence of learning styles through empirical testing. Even with a booming business of tests to identify particular learning styles, there is virtually no experimentally based research to test the validity of learning styles. Pashler conducted one of the first thorough investigations in this area and discovered that “at the present, there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments into general education practice.” It may be possible that learning styles exist to a degree, that is people prefer the presentation of information in a particular manner. However, according to the Pashler's study catering to each individuals' particular learning style is not beneficial in an educational setting.

Why have we gone on believing in learning styles, if there is virtually no evidence to back it up? Richard Landers claims one possible reason could be that "there is some basic human satisfaction at placing people into categories." In the end, more empirical research needs to be done in the area to back up Pashler's study.