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NFT: Learning styles debunked

BestFeature : 8/1/2021 11:00 pm
I thought this was interesting, apparently everyone having a different learning style is a myth. This is actually somewhat Giants related because this was one thing Judge focused in his introductory press conference.
Link - ( New Window )
So a random YouTube video  
Jersey Heel : 8/1/2021 11:25 pm : link
Is the source? Not to be a jerk, but as someone who works in education, learning styles is a real thing. Even for myself, I do much better when I read something rather than hear it.
JerseyHeel  
BigBlueBuff : 8/1/2021 11:37 pm : link
Look at the "Show More" tab to see the reference list. I haven't read any of these, but I knew that this was something that was going away.

Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological science in the public interest, 9(3), 105-119. — https://ve42.co/Pashler2008

Willingham, D. T., Hughes, E. M., & Dobolyi, D. G. (2015). The scientific status of learning styles theories. Teaching of Psychology, 42(3), 266-271. — https://ve42.co/Willingham

Massa, L. J., & Mayer, R. E. (2006). Testing the ATI hypothesis: Should multimedia instruction accommodate verbalizer-visualizer cognitive style?. Learning and Individual Differences, 16(4), 321-335. — https://ve42.co/Massa2006

Riener, C., & Willingham, D. (2010). The myth of learning styles. Change: The magazine of higher learning, 42(5), 32-35.— https://ve42.co/Riener2010

Husmann, P. R., & O'Loughlin, V. D. (2019). Another nail in the coffin for learning styles? Disparities among undergraduate anatomy students’ study strategies, class performance, and reported VARK learning styles. Anatomical sciences education, 12(1), 6-19. — https://ve42.co/Husmann2019

Snider, V. E., & Roehl, R. (2007). Teachers’ beliefs about pedagogy and related issues. Psychology in the Schools, 44, 873–886. doi:10.1002/pits.20272 — https://ve42.co/Snider2007

Fleming, N., & Baume, D. (2006). Learning Styles Again: VARKing up the right tree!. Educational developments, 7(4), 4. — https://ve42.co/Fleming2006

Rogowsky, B. A., Calhoun, B. M., & Tallal, P. (2015). Matching learning style to instructional method: Effects on comprehension. Journal of educational psychology, 107(1), 64. — https://ve42.co/Rogowskyetal

Coffield, Frank; Moseley, David; Hall, Elaine; Ecclestone, Kathryn (2004). — https://ve42.co/Coffield2004

Furey, W. (2020). THE STUBBORN MYTH OF LEARNING STYLES. Education Next, 20(3), 8-13. — https://ve42.co/Furey2020

Dunn, R., Beaudry, J. S., & Klavas, A. (2002). Survey of research on learning styles. California Journal of Science Education II (2). — https://ve42.co/Dunn2002
RE: So a random YouTube video  
BestFeature : 8/1/2021 11:45 pm : link
In comment 15319308 Jersey Heel said:
Quote:
Is the source? Not to be a jerk, but as someone who works in education, learning styles is a real thing. Even for myself, I do much better when I read something rather than hear it.


To be fair, you didn't provide a source either other than what you believe about yourself.
Great Video  
Tim in JTown : 8/2/2021 6:00 am : link
That is a great video and one of the best I have seen on debunking learning styles.

Learning styles aren't about learning. They are simply a means of communicating things. No one learns merely by looking at something like a definition, a map, a group of musicians on a stage. everything we learn has multiple dimensions. As a teacher, my students learn about course content from multiple modes of perception which is how we experience life. Being able to understand something from multiple modes makes information more useable and relevant.

The real, research-based tools for learning involve spacing, interleaving, desirable difficulties, deliberate practice. Learning is often understood as the act of memorizing stuff for short term. And that's too bad, especially for college students who are paying high dollars for an education. We should be learning for long term, for permanence to become competent professionals. If you want to know what learning feels like, adopt the tools mentioned above. Code things in multiple ways. Use good motivators like empathy to drive your learning. Watch the Giants practices and see the players gradually move from being raw to become very detailed in their footwork, hand work, speed, balance, etc.
Different learning styles is overblown  
Vanzetti : 8/2/2021 8:24 am : link
The basic problem is kids like to do what they are good at. Kids who are good at school put in effort because they get rewarded with achievement.

Kids who are not as good, do not.

But today it is forbidden to suggest there are natural differences in intellect or achievement. So then we have to blame some external factor, such as learning styles or some perceived social injustice.

That’s why sports are so valuable. It’s a pure meritocracy. If I a football player claimed he was cut because the coaching staff did not appreciate his different learning style, he would be laughed out of town
And just to clarify  
Vanzetti : 8/2/2021 8:32 am : link
I’m not saying there are no differences in learning styles. Just that it has been exaggerated.

Also, there are different types of intelligence. Mechanical aptitude and other forms of practical and social intelligence. But our educational system is focused on reading writing and math/science and some people are just better at those things than others.

There used to be more vocational training but the great educational experts at Harvard and Berkeley deemed that prejudicial and as a result the achievement gap became wider
Let's assume that everyone has the same learning style.  
Marty in Albany : 8/2/2021 8:50 am : link
How significant is "learning style" if there are also other factors that significantly influence what, or how much, a person learns.

Example: when I was in grade school, because I needed glasses I could not see the blackboard. I did not learn very well in those classes.

In other words, if learning style is only one factor in the learning process, whether there is only one learning style, or many learning styles, becomes a whole lot less important.

Caveat: As I have no teaching experience whatsoever and never heard the term "learning style" before, my opinion is probably wildly inaccurate.
Another good video  
Tim in JTown : 8/2/2021 9:02 am : link
on how learning styles are not only mythical but completely impractical.

Realize that over the past 50 years, there has been no credible evidence that supports that teaching to the preferred learning style of a student is meaningful or helps students learn. In fact, there is evidence that says the opposite is true.
Smithsonian - ( New Window )
The problem with educational research  
Vanzetti : 8/2/2021 9:25 am : link
Is that the researcher knows what conclusions they want to teach and then designs a study that validates those conclusions.

The main reason for this is that the research is oriented to educational policy. So the research is already politicized before it even gets under way.

Also, teaching is a practical art. It’s like telling a joke. Some people are just better at it. You can read all the books you want on joking telling. Read research on joke telling. Study different ways of joke telling in different culture. Be attuned to social and culture difference in your audience. But all that does not mean you are going to make people laugh.
RE: The problem with educational research  
jhibb : 8/2/2021 10:14 am : link
In comment 15319442 Vanzetti said:
Quote:

Also, teaching is a practical art. It’s like telling a joke. Some people are just better at it. You can read all the books you want on joking telling. Read research on joke telling. Study different ways of joke telling in different culture. Be attuned to social and culture difference in your audience. But all that does not mean you are going to make people laugh.


I agree that some people are just naturally better teachers/joke-tellers than others. But I think the question becomes this: given two people with the same natural, innate joke-telling ability, will one become "better" (as measurable as that may be) than the other by such reading, researching, & studying?
RE: The problem with educational research  
jhibb : 8/2/2021 10:18 am : link
In comment 15319442 Vanzetti said:
Quote:
Is that the researcher knows what conclusions they want to teach and then designs a study that validates those conclusions.

The main reason for this is that the research is oriented to educational policy. So the research is already politicized before it even gets under way.


As in all research, there is a lot of variability in the quality of the studies.
It turns out that the more recent and more vigorous studies show learning styles is a myth, while the "studies" that introduced them in the first place were dependent on "something magical."

RE: Different learning styles is overblown  
Gman11 : 8/2/2021 6:28 pm : link
In comment 15319380 Vanzetti said:
Quote:

But today it is forbidden to suggest there are natural differences in intellect or achievement. So then we have to blame some external factor, such as learning styles or some perceived social injustice.


Nah. Just blame the teacher.
Let's be honest  
PwndPapi : 8/2/2021 6:40 pm : link
Nothing in this video debunks anything. The OP merely agrees with the argument.
The study that is mentioned in the video  
eclipz928 : 8/2/2021 9:44 pm : link
that is the basis of this idea is flawed. It requires the participants of the study to self-identify their learning style before being given a test based on that result. It doesn't account for people having a learning style preference that may not match the actual learning style that's most effective for that person.

Someone may say that they're a visual learner but may actually absorb information better reading or hearing it when measured. The guy in the video alludes to this in the video - having a "bias" towards one method that mentally shuts you off from attempting to learn something in a different way.

And I'd say the majority of educators already recognize the benefit of multi-modal methods and try to incorporate them in to lessons whenever they can. I think the main reason for identifying a student's "learning style" is not so much to teach to their strengths but finding ways to compensate when a weakness is found in how the information is received.

But, even if it's accepted that "learning styles" aren't a real thing, it doesn't address the challenge of figuring out ways to teach to people who don't absorb information as readily as others. This is an argument about semantics.
Skeptoid  
Cap'n Bluebeard : 8/3/2021 2:03 pm : link
Skeptoid (which I highly, highly recommend) recently did a very good podcast about the myth of learning styles. If you're really interested in this topic, you should give them a read/listen.
Skeptoid: Learning Styles, Re-examined - ( New Window )
RE: Different learning styles is overblown  
UConn4523 : 8/3/2021 2:26 pm : link
In comment 15319380 Vanzetti said:
Quote:


But today it is forbidden to suggest there are natural differences in intellect or achievement. So then we have to blame some external factor, such as learning styles or some perceived social injustice.



This is largely false like so many headlines these days. The vast majority of teachers recognize differences in intellect its the shitty parents that want things to be "fair" and that number is exaggerated too. The minority group is always loudest, always has been, always will be.

Going through schooling right now as a parent and its pretty clear which kids take to learning over others and those are given harder work and challenged more.
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adamg : 8/4/2021 4:38 pm : link
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