The Biggest Myth In Education

The VARK model identifies four main learning styles: visual, auditory, reading-writing, and kinesthetic.

Visual learners reportedly learn best from images, demonstrations, and pictures.

Auditory learners reportedly learn best from listening to an explanation.

Kinesthetic learners reportedly learn best by doing and physically interacting with the world.

A survey of nearly 400 teachers from the UK and the Netherlands found that over 90% believed individuals learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning style.

To take advantage of learning styles, teachers would need to identify each student's learning style and then teach each student accordingly.

If the learning style hypothesis were correct, a randomized control trial would show better performance when the presentation matches the learning style than when they are mismatched.

Some individuals in Derek Muller's experiment remembered substantially more, such as eight or nine items, by employing memory strategies like creating a story or repeating a list.

A rigorous study by Massa & Mayer (2006) on visualizers versus verbalizers found that students whose preferred learning style matched their instruction performed no better on tests than those whose instruction was mismatched.

The minority of students in the 2018 Indiana study who did use compatible study strategies did not perform significantly differently on assessments.

The VARK model originated from Neil Fleming, a school inspector in New Zealand, who sought to explain why some teachers reached learners while others did not, attributing it to 'preferred modes of learning'.

Review articles of learning styles consistently conclude there is no credible evidence that learning styles exist.

A 2009 review noted a striking and disturbing contrast between the enormous popularity of the learning styles approach and the lack of credible evidence for its utility.

Many people find learning styles convincing because they already believe it to be true, leading to confirmation bias where new experiences are interpreted to fit existing beliefs.

The most important thing for learning is what is happening inside the learner's head, specifically active thinking, problem-solving, or imagining variable changes.

The learning styles misconception likely makes learning worse by giving teachers unnecessary worries and making some students reluctant to engage with certain types of instruction.