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. It’s intuitively appealing but it appears to be superstition. For a critique of the extant literature on this see:
Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E., Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning. A systematic and critical review. London: Learning and Skills Research Centre.
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences does appear to be supported by some relatively good research but this it *not* the same notion as VAK or VARK models of “learning style.”
September 16th, 2007 at 9:28 PM
That’s an interesting point of view. Seems the last 10 or so years that’s all we’ve heard in the public schools…addressing different learning styles. I think this has been so unclear for many people that they assume learning style and multiple intelligences mean the same thing. This will make intersting reading to pursue further.
September 18th, 2007 at 1:20 PM
I can’t believe you said that learning styles are superstition!! You are so irreverent! I’m not disagreeing with you, but I have never heard anyone question learning styles before. I am eager to read the review.
September 18th, 2007 at 5:57 PM
I question everything. The problem is that too much of what we do in the classroom is based on “the way we’ve always done it” and the whole “Learning Styles” thing is one of those pop-psychology phenoms that has yet to be supported by anything approaching a credible study.
There are a lot of people who believe — but belief isn’t proof, and belief in the absence of evidence is superstition. What else could you call it?
October 13th, 2008 at 3:18 PM
[...] As I was reviewing some closed discussions on the 688 discussion board, the Learning Styles construct keeps coming up. I’ve written about this in length here, and the link to the most comprehensive refutation is listed in this artile: 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. It’s intuitively appealing but it appears to be superstition. For a critique of the extant literature on this see: Learning Styles. [...]
October 18th, 2008 at 8:10 PM
Wow! Learning styles a superstition. That is interesting, but you are right we have always been preached to about learning styles, but I have never seen any research on it.