Are You Overcomplicating Learning Styles?

The Problem

Researchers have disproven the concept of discrete learning styles, yet the common misunderstanding about what learning styles are and how learning and development professionals and learners should capitalize on them continues.

What are learning styles?

According to the Center for Teaching, “The term learning styles is widely used to describe how learners gather, sift through, interpret, organize, come to conclusions about, and “store” information for further use.” While there are innumerous learning style theories and applications, the most recognizable is VARK. The VARK focuses on sensory approaches, also commonly referred to as modalities.

Each year, an enormous amount of time and resources are wasted because of the misperception that maximizing learning requires content developers and learning experience creators to cater to the individual style of each learner. While customizing the learning experience for each individual learner is not altogether fruitless, you can simultaneously maximize learning and eliminate the downsides of that approach by creating learning opportunities that incorporate a variety of modalities, thereby providing something for everyone. This approach saves time, other resources, and doesn’t put the learner in a box that will later put limitations on their full potential.

Survey (Research) Says!

Learner identities are important. And yet, learner identities developed around limitations, real or perceived, can cause more harm than good. Like labeling theory in Sociology, labels can negatively impact behavior, if the learner subscribes to the label. For example, a person who believes that they are a visual learner. That learner has a built-in excuse for failure any time they encounter a learning opportunity that doesn’t align with their identity as a visual learner.

But there is good news! Researchers have disproven the idea of discrete learning styles. There is no scientific evidence to support the idea that matching learning activities to individual styles enhances learning.

Practitioners who understand that discrete learning styles don’t exist, often use the term “learning preferences.” Having a preference doesn’t indicate or reinforce the idea that a learner can only learn via their preferred method of learning. But it does acknowledge the individual as a unique learner.

Preferences, alone, should not dictate how we design learning experiences. Sometimes, teaching one way over another is just a better option. Tesia Marshik once did a TEDx Talk (Learning styles & the importance of critical self-reflection) where she made a joke about olfactory learners (learning by smelling) trying to learn and differentiate the bird songs of different types of birds by smell.  Utterly ridiculous! No matter how much the olfactory learners prefer to learn by smelling, that just isn’t the best way to learn that content. Learning preferences don’t suggest that a learner cannot learn effectively when faced with a learning modality that doesn’t align with their preferred learning method.

Learning Preferences & Learning Theory

Preferences are important because they can impact learner motivation. In other words, if you continuously try to get a learner to learn in a way that they don’t prefer, you run the risk of the learner opting out of the learning.

When it comes to Adult Learning Theory (also known as Andragogy), one of the big differences between it and Child Learning Theory (also known as Pedagogy), is that adult learners come with vast amounts of prior learning experience. They are usually quite sure about the learning they like and the learning they want to avoid or otherwise dread.

One component of Malcolm Knowles’s theory of adult learning is known as self-concept. This is the need for independence and self-direction. If learners have no choice in how they learn, they are less likely embrace the opportunity to learn.

The learners’ self-concept. Adults have a self-concept of being responsible for their own decisions, for their own lives. Once they have arrived at that self-concept, they develop a deep psychological need to be seen by others and treated by others as being capable of self-direction. They resent and resist situations in which they feel others are imposing their wills on them. – http://intrpr.info/library/books/knowles-the-adult-learner.pdf

So, while science does not support the concept of discrete learning styles, altogether ignoring learner preferences is a mistake.

The Solution

The solution is to develop learning content and experiences in a way that includes a variety of modalities. By doing this, you can accommodate the preferences of diverse learners without falling into the trap of failing to leverage the most appropriate activities and strategies because you’re attempting to accommodate every individual learner’s preference.

We often here that variety is the spice of life. It is also the spice of learning.

Citations:

Chick, N. (2010). Learning Styles. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved 7/30/24 from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/learning-styles-preferences/.

https://youtu.be/855Now8h5Rs?si=AXq_cgOiQbnhAb4h

http://intrpr.info/library/books/knowles-the-adult-learner.pdf

https://www.radiant.digital/article/should-learning-styles-be-considered-training-process

https://www.simplypsychology.org/labeling-theory.html