I suppose I should take comfort in the constancy that in every semeseter, I will find students who believe in “learning styles.” The comfort comes from knowing I have resources lined up to try to help. Like this post:
Learning Styles
Several of you have referred to “learning styles” in some of your posts and comments. I know it’s fashionable, but it’s also not supported by any credible scientific evidence.
And this one:
Learning Styles, Again
In order to justify the “Learning Style” theory, that individual student MUST show sigificant improvements across a wide variety of content areas delivered in a variety of modes and therein lies the rub. Whatever design this research takes, it must somehow tease out that causal relationship between the delivery mode and the outcome that’s independent from the repetition.
I even use it as an example of non-theory here:
Theory?! What Theory?!
My problem with it is that it seems so nonsensical that the likelihood of it actually being true is too remote for me towastespend time with it. Logically, it just lacks a level of coherence that I need in order to take it seriously.
Yes, I know. A lot of people believe in learning styles. That’s fine. I’m happy they worship at that altar.
Education isn’t something I’m willing to take on faith.
January 29th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I am guilty of using the term learning styles. To me it is just a term that refers to the way that a child learns best. In my classroom, I try using all different methods that emphasize different ways to retain the necessary information. I try to create some sort of visual picture or symbol for those that need to “see” the concept to create a mental picture. I talk about the concept for the more auditory learners. I write steps to or phrases on the board about the subject for those that need to read about the concept. I even try to create some sort of song or musical summation of the concept when possible. Some sort of movement is also good when possible. So as a teacher when I see the term learning styles, it is just a reminder that I need to present a concept in as many different ways as possible in order to touch as many different ways of learning as possible.
I was taught about learning styles all through college. And even this semester, my professor in another graduate class is asking us to take a learning styles inventory. With those thoughts in mind, there must be something valid about with this thought process for it to stay around for so many years and be written about in textbooks and other books. I know with me if someone shows me how to do something rather than reading about it, I learn it quicker and remember it much longer. I am one of those that need to “see” a picture or symbol of something. It does not seem to matter what the material that I am trying to learn is.
January 29th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
I think each individual has their own style of learning. You can group a room full of students and make them learn from one certain style. It would never work.
January 29th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Yup. It’s a very widely held superstition.
Many people honestly believe that it’s true that a student will universally learn best in one mode or another, regardless of content. The problem is there is no credible evidence to support that belief.
Personally, I maintain the stance that content drives pedagogy. If you want students to understand music, they have to hear it. If you want them to understand art, they have to see it. If you want them to learn to ride a bicycle, they have to get on the seat and roll down the road.
Furthermore, most of what passes for evidence of learning styles, is really repetition and restatement. Those are both valid techniques. Jonda describes a perfectly valid sequence of instructional process which involves terrific levels of restatement and repetition.
But there’s no evidence in there that learning styles are involved. There’s no hint that one student ALWAYS learns better when they hear it, or another ALWAYS learns better when they see it. That’s the definition of learning styles and that’s the problem.
Learning styles MAY exist. I can’t say they don’t because that’s the nature of logic. All I can say is that we haven’t found any evidence of it yet.
January 29th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
I agree that there is no research to PROVE learning styles truly exist..I have yet to read anything that has shown that they do. However, it is difficult for me to say I don’t believe in them. I had one student with a lot of learning problems, who could not seem to learn anything unless it was through a song. He learned his alphabet sounds, numbers, etc. through song. I tried to teach him using different learning styles, but he never retained anything unless I could incorporate a song along with a gesture/menomic device. I’m not saying that he cannot learn information in other ways, but his mother and I could not find anything else that worked for him. Maybe motivation is a factor here…..other learning styles did not interest him?
January 29th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
OK, the problem is that this probably isn’t a “learning style” issue.
This is a short term/long term memory encoding issue. It’s not the “hearing” – it’s the mnemonic. If I had to guess — and I do — the issue goes back to an inability to effectively encode recall sequences without the bridges formed by rhyming and song.
It’s one of the issues. There’s so much stuff that can be confused with “learning styles.”
January 30th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Learning styles have been drilled into our heads forever. Every education class seems to talk about it. However, I agree with Jonda that it is just a way to remind that some students learn better than another. Does that student learn that way in every class? Probably not, but honestly, I just care about how to teach my content . It is hard enough already since everyone usually “hates” math anyway. Everything does get confused with learning styles because there is so much that can be placed into that general category.
January 31st, 2009 at 9:34 am
I also agree with Jonda. I think that the term “learning styles” just reminds me to present information in mutliple ways. Sometimes I like to make up a song or use someone elses to teach a concept. When I am presenting information I like to talk about it while displaying some visual of what I am discussing. Sometimes students should move around the room to learn new information. I think that Dr. Lowell has made a good point when he said that it depends on what content you want to teach. Students should see and create art to learn about it. Students should hear and play music to learn about it. Students should participate in an experiement to understand some concepts in science.
Now that I think about it, the idea that a child learns best with one learning style is kind of silly. Can a visual learner truely understand and learn to appreciate Mozart by looking at illustrations, pictures, sheet music, and text? Could anyone without listening to his compositions? How can any one person learn what they need to know in life by only benifiting from one learning style because it is “their” learning style.
I appreciate what I have learning about learning styles, but I will probably continue using them to spice up what I am doing in the classroom. I do not see myself using it to target an individual students’ needs in the classroom unless they ate autistic and respond to certain learning styles more than others.
January 31st, 2009 at 10:07 am
“I think that the term “learning styles” just reminds me to present information in mutliple ways.”
The problem is you’re really talking about “multiple modes of delivery” not “learning styles.” The difference may seem minor but it’s the difference between “cooking” and “eating.”
January 31st, 2009 at 3:12 pm
I brought learning styles up in one of my previous posts. I know your position on learning styles, but it is so hard to go back and “unlearn”??? what has been preached to many of us in our education classes. I agree that there is no research–I never really thought about sound research not being given at the time. I was taught that all children learn in different ways and it is up to us to teach to their particular styles to create an effective learning environment. After reading about your position on this for the second semester it does make sense. Maybe it is multiple modes of delivery. But would multiple modes of delivery be used to go along with the ways multiple children may learn?
Having said this, I do think back to my elementary experience and I don’t think teachers focused on learning styles very much. They taught and we were expected to learn the material in whatever way they brought it to us. It didn’t seem to be a problem then, which makes me wonder if we think into these things too much? It is obvious that things have changed dramatically from when I was in school. I sometimes wonder if the change is always for the better. I think about spelling in this instance. Spelling is still taught, but children can “spell at” words. What is up with that? If they are never taught the importance of this issue will they ever learn it????? There are certain things that children should learn no matter how they think they learn best!
January 31st, 2009 at 6:55 pm
“I was taught that all children learn in different ways and it is up to us to teach to their particular styles to create an effective learning environment.”
The question of “how do we learn?” is still up for grabs. Personally, I think that we’ve focused too narrowly.
I *believe* that how a particular piece of information is encoded in the brain — and therefore how it’s connected to other pieces and recalled later — is unique to each individual. From that standpoint, I think that the idea that “children learn differently” is less related to the way the material is presented as it is to the way the material is stored.
The same lesson — in the same mode — is undoubtedly learned differently by each and every student who is subjected to it. The challenge in teaching is to present information in enough different ways that the general consensus of knowledge in each brain is relatively congruent. I think that’s the part that has been mis-interpreted and mis-applied when considering the idea that “children learn differently.”
January 31st, 2009 at 9:25 pm
I understand where you’re going with learning styles. It is our responsibility to teach in multiple ways in order to enhance any given lesson. However, if observed closely, one can observe students leaning more towards a particular style. NO, we should not consider this “THEIR ONLY LEARNING STYLE…BY THEORY,” however; it sure gives us a solid foundation to start with. There are particular ways that I learn best and I would consider those my learning styles. They work best for me. I’m sure each individual has a specific preference (if taken the time to examine). For example, as an undergrad, I had a course that was based on solely lectures. I didn’t learn anything in the course. I can honestly say…NOTHING GAINED! I am not one who can learn by listening to someone ramble for hours. I need hands on activities and research if I plan to keep the information. I would consider that my learning style. However, I can also learn through mnemonics as well…which supports your statement that we should address many different learning styles.
January 31st, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Wow! I actually found someone that agrees with me about learning styles??
To me, the learning styles debate is akin to a belief in God. Some would say there is no proof that God exists and others argue that the proof is all around us. I guess you could make the same argument about learning styles. I personnaly have seen no scientifically verifiable proof (verifiable meaning repeatable with the same results in my definition). But, when you say this to a professor that believes that learning styles are not just a theory but indeed a fact, you get thought of as an instigator.
I wonder what you think about texts that are largely based on learning styles. Our scholl has adopted such a text for Social Studies.
February 1st, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Its not that we actually believe in the learning styles, we have been “force fed” these styles by our principles, professors and many others. At our elementary school we were even fed learning style inventory reports that were based on a test that supposedly determined a students’ learning style and we were supposed to focus on that style. I thought it was totally ridiculous. In my classroom I incorporate many types of multimedia with my smartboard, different types for math and science. I don’t feel that any one student benefits more than any other. I have always thought that depending on the subject you teach one learning style might benefit your students more so than another, I think the matter depends almost entirely on the subject and not the student. But that is just my opinion.
February 2nd, 2009 at 8:08 am
Diana said: “which supports your statement that we should address many different learning styles.”
>Actually no. I said we should use a variety of delivery modes in order to take advantage of the value of restatement and repetition.
Scott asked: “I wonder what you think about texts that are largely based on learning styles.”
>I think the textbook marketing people know how to take advantage of the political process that governs textbook adoption.
February 3rd, 2009 at 6:12 pm
So, I really like learning styles. I actually do a learing styles inventory at the beginning of the year with students. Do I really live by them, no. Do I really think that they are exact, no. They give me insight to how my students learn best. I really like them when I don’t have a clue about a child. They help me get started with what they need to get the material. I find that after awhile though it could change. It also can change with each lesson, it really is about what spikes the child’s interest.
February 3rd, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Then it’s not really “learning styles” is it?
Have you tried a random number generator?