7 ms·

“The idea of "learning styles" is dead in the field of psychology” - can you point some reference or research supporting this claim ?

alxlaz 8y ago
See e.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5366351/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5366351/ , which cites several of the papers that put the last few nails in the coffin. It also inventories the somewhat depressing situation we're currently in. Learning styles are an oversimplified theory that many serious psychologists had suspected to be bollocks for more than twenty years, if not more. However, it's simple enough that it was easy to adopt by large companies and resource- (and knowledge-)constrained HR departments, which is why it's still given a lot of attention in these circles. In 2009, the APS conducted a fairly comprehensive (by psychology standards, at least...) of the existing literature ( http://steinhardtapps.es.its.nyu.edu/create/courses/2174/reading/Pashler_et_al_PSPI_9_3.pdf http://steinhardtapps.es.its.nyu.edu/create/courses/2174/rea... ) and unsurprisingly found that all except one of the very few studies on the subject that actually had a proper methodology had negative findings. Its conclusion was that there was no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning styles assessments into general educational practice. In short: it is not, and never was, a viable scientific theory, and no serious scientist is treating it as such anymore.
- pbhjpbhj 8y ago
  Skimming, that paper says there's no support for it, rather than there being evidence to falsify the idea that different people learn better in different ways. I seem to learn best when I write stuff down; I've assumed this wasn't true for everyone. Presumably a basic test like presenting new subjects to a group in 3 different ways (lecture, reading material, activity -- say) and test the group, see if subject matter uptake is identical in each case. Could someone link that, it seems to be like the first thing you'd test? 94% of UK teachers think their pupils learn better through individualised learning methods (according to your first link), but you contend their belief is false ... even though there's no formalised support (again according to the link) why do you think teachers feel there is. Surely they see a portion of their pupils are giving better responses if they present knowledge in one way vs another? Any thoughts on how nearly all teachers are mislead in this way? It also says, roughly, a third say they'll continue to present according to personalised methodologies even if there's no evidence (yet!) to support that pedagogy. That seems natural; if something appears to work when you do it, even if someone else has no evidence that it works you'll keep doing it. So which method of information is best for all people, as the contention is this isn't variable: all people learn best by ...? (hearing, seeing, taking part, watching, ...)?
  - Kalium 8y ago
    > Skimming, that paper says there's no support for it, rather than there being evidence to falsify the idea that different people learn better in different ways. Yes. That's the phrasing you get when researchers mean "As far as we can tell it's bullshit". Generally coupled with data that shows them looking for effects and finding zilch - which is the negative evidence you're looking for. Do you think there's something lacking here?
    - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
      The part that's always deliberately ignored in these studies is, that people may have a preference for different presentations and processes. So while, if you force people (in an experimental environment) to use one techinique, and they end up learning about as well, it ignores the idea that they would have resisted learning that thing at all if it was only presented that way?
      - Kalium 8y ago
        I'm not sure I understand your point. Are you saying that the idea of Learning Styles, which are about how effectively an individual student learns a subject depending on presentation style, ignores personal preferences of students that don't have an impact on instructional efficacy? Or that it ignores the preferences of teachers?
        JoeAltmaier 8y ago
        It ignores the fact that one student will ignore the reading if not forced to do it, while another prefers the reading and completes it. Etc. So we see, in practice, different outcomes for different students depending on how the material is presented.
        Kalium 8y ago
        Thank you for clarifying! As I understand them, these studies of Learning Styles are focused entirely on pedagogical methods and their efficacy at teaching material to students. The implication, as near as I can tell, is that a student's personal preferences for how they might do things outside an instruction environment is not relevant to efficacy inside an instructional environment. You seem to be contending that a person's preferences for how to learn can and should be expected to impact the efficiency of their learning process - which sounds a lot like the Learning Styles idea! After all, if a student might have resisted an approach in a counterfactual scenario but did learn successfully and as efficiently as a student who would not have resisted that same approach, then the same outcome is achieved in both theory and practice. Have I missed something? Perhaps I have failed to understand your point?

alxlaz 8y ago

See e.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5366351/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5366351/ , which cites several of the papers that put the last few nails in the coffin. It also inventories the somewhat depressing situation we're currently in. Learning styles are an oversimplified theory that many serious psychologists had suspected to be bollocks for more than twenty years, if not more. However, it's simple enough that it was easy to adopt by large companies and resource- (and knowledge-)constrained HR departments, which is why it's still given a lot of attention in these circles. In 2009, the APS conducted a fairly comprehensive (by psychology standards, at least...) of the existing literature ( http://steinhardtapps.es.its.nyu.edu/create/courses/2174/reading/Pashler_et_al_PSPI_9_3.pdf http://steinhardtapps.es.its.nyu.edu/create/courses/2174/rea... ) and unsurprisingly found that all except one of the very few studies on the subject that actually had a proper methodology had negative findings. Its conclusion was that there was no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning styles assessments into general educational practice. In short: it is not, and never was, a viable scientific theory, and no serious scientist is treating it as such anymore.

pbhjpbhj 8y ago
Skimming, that paper says there's no support for it, rather than there being evidence to falsify the idea that different people learn better in different ways. I seem to learn best when I write stuff down; I've assumed this wasn't true for everyone. Presumably a basic test like presenting new subjects to a group in 3 different ways (lecture, reading material, activity -- say) and test the group, see if subject matter uptake is identical in each case. Could someone link that, it seems to be like the first thing you'd test? 94% of UK teachers think their pupils learn better through individualised learning methods (according to your first link), but you contend their belief is false ... even though there's no formalised support (again according to the link) why do you think teachers feel there is. Surely they see a portion of their pupils are giving better responses if they present knowledge in one way vs another? Any thoughts on how nearly all teachers are mislead in this way? It also says, roughly, a third say they'll continue to present according to personalised methodologies even if there's no evidence (yet!) to support that pedagogy. That seems natural; if something appears to work when you do it, even if someone else has no evidence that it works you'll keep doing it. So which method of information is best for all people, as the contention is this isn't variable: all people learn best by ...? (hearing, seeing, taking part, watching, ...)?
- Kalium 8y ago
  > Skimming, that paper says there's no support for it, rather than there being evidence to falsify the idea that different people learn better in different ways. Yes. That's the phrasing you get when researchers mean "As far as we can tell it's bullshit". Generally coupled with data that shows them looking for effects and finding zilch - which is the negative evidence you're looking for. Do you think there's something lacking here?
  - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
    The part that's always deliberately ignored in these studies is, that people may have a preference for different presentations and processes. So while, if you force people (in an experimental environment) to use one techinique, and they end up learning about as well, it ignores the idea that they would have resisted learning that thing at all if it was only presented that way?
    - Kalium 8y ago
      I'm not sure I understand your point. Are you saying that the idea of Learning Styles, which are about how effectively an individual student learns a subject depending on presentation style, ignores personal preferences of students that don't have an impact on instructional efficacy? Or that it ignores the preferences of teachers?
      - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
        It ignores the fact that one student will ignore the reading if not forced to do it, while another prefers the reading and completes it. Etc. So we see, in practice, different outcomes for different students depending on how the material is presented.
        Kalium 8y ago
        Thank you for clarifying! As I understand them, these studies of Learning Styles are focused entirely on pedagogical methods and their efficacy at teaching material to students. The implication, as near as I can tell, is that a student's personal preferences for how they might do things outside an instruction environment is not relevant to efficacy inside an instructional environment. You seem to be contending that a person's preferences for how to learn can and should be expected to impact the efficiency of their learning process - which sounds a lot like the Learning Styles idea! After all, if a student might have resisted an approach in a counterfactual scenario but did learn successfully and as efficiently as a student who would not have resisted that same approach, then the same outcome is achieved in both theory and practice. Have I missed something? Perhaps I have failed to understand your point?