This is a longish and very good article summarizing the research and discussion on learning styles. The message is simple: no research has proven the efficacy of differentiating instruction by learning styles. Now I would like to add the article does not offer any argument that learning systems do not exist, only that they are not useful in an instructional context. See Ryan Tracey's comment to this effect. As he argues, 'learning styles' is a poor (and overly prescriptive, I would add) way of describing student preferences.
There is discussion of Will Thalheimer's $1,000 challenge, but even he sees that it stacks the cards, and that there are some relevant differences between learners:
- It seems clear from the research that learners who are new to learning sometimes need different instructional supports from learners who have had experience
- diagnosing a learner's misunderstandings—and providing different feedback/guidance based on such a diagnosis creates faster understanding
- Motivational differences may also require different interventions.
It's just that none of these are allowed to count as 'learning styes' - or he would have lost his money ages ago.
There is discussion of Will Thalheimer's $1,000 challenge, but even he sees that it stacks the cards, and that there are some relevant differences between learners:
- It seems clear from the research that learners who are new to learning sometimes need different instructional supports from learners who have had experience
- diagnosing a learner's misunderstandings—and providing different feedback/guidance based on such a diagnosis creates faster understanding
- Motivational differences may also require different interventions.
It's just that none of these are allowed to count as 'learning styes' - or he would have lost his money ages ago.
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