{"id":50794,"date":"2015-06-16T12:32:37","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T16:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/?p=50794"},"modified":"2015-07-14T17:14:28","modified_gmt":"2015-07-14T21:14:28","slug":"learning-preferences-yes-learning-styles-these-resources-say-no-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/2015\/06\/16\/learning-preferences-yes-learning-styles-these-resources-say-no-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning preferences? Yes.  Learning styles? These resources say no go."},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article-title\"><a href=\"http:\/\/clive-shepherd.blogspot.com\/2015\/06\/every-learner-is-different-but-not.html\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Every learner is different but not because of their learning styles<\/strong><\/a> &#8212; from clive-shepherd.blogspot.com by Clive Sheperd<\/p>\n<p><em>Excerpt:<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">I&#8217;ve been reading <em>Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning<\/em> by Peter Brown and Henry Roediger (Harvard University Press, 2014). What a great book! It provides a whole load of useful tips for learners, teachers and trainers based on solid research.<br \/>\n&#8230;<br \/>\nFinishing this book coincides with The Debunker Club&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.debunker.club\/learning-styles-are-not-an-effective-guide-for-learning-design.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Debunk Learning Styles Month<\/a>. And learning styles really do need debunking, not because we, as learners, don&#8217;t have preferences, but because there is no model out there which has been proven\u00a0to be genuinely helpful in predicting learner performance based on their preferences.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.debunker.club\/learning-styles-are-not-an-effective-guide-for-learning-design.html\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Learning Styles are NOT an Effective Guide for Learning Design<\/strong><\/a> &#8212; from debunker.club<\/p>\n<p><em>Excerpt:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Strength of Evidence Against<\/strong><br \/>\nThe strength of evidence against the use of learning styles is very strong. To put it simply, using learning styles to design or deploy learning is not likely to lead to improved learning effectiveness. While it may be true that learners have different learning preferences, those preference are not likely to be a good guide for learning. The bottom line is that when we design learning, there are far better heuristics to use than learning styles.<br \/>\n&#8230;<br \/>\nThe weight of evidence at this time suggests that learning professionals should avoid using learning styles as a way to design their learning events. Still, research has not put the last nail in the coffin of learning styles. Future research may reveal specific instances where learning-style methods work. Similarly, learning preferences may be found to have long-term motivational effects.<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Debunking Resources &#8212; Text-Based Web Pages<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.danielwillingham.com\/learning-styles-faq.html\" target=\"_blank\">Frequently Asked Questions about Learning Styles by Daniel Willingham, PhD<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.psychologicalscience.org\/index.php\/news\/releases\/learning-styles-debunked-there-is-no-evidence-supporting-auditory-and-visual-learning-psychologists-say.html\" target=\"_blank\">Press Release from the Association for Psychological Science<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.changemag.org\/archives\/back%20issues\/september-october%202010\/the-myth-of-learning-full.html\" target=\"_blank\">Myth of Learning Styles by Cedar Riener and Daniel Willingham<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.willatworklearning.com\/2014\/08\/learning-styles-challenge-year-eight.html\" target=\"_blank\">$5,000 Learning Styles Challenge by Will Thalheimer, PhD and others<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/elearnmag.acm.org\/featured.cfm?aid=2070611\" target=\"_blank\">eLearn Magazine by Guy Wallace<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.cathy-moore.com\/2010\/09\/learning-styles-worth-our-time\/\" target=\"_blank\">Blog Post by Cathy Moore<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/blog\/mouse-man\/201504\/what-are-learning-styles\" target=\"_blank\">Article at Psychology Today<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aft.org\/ae\/summer2005\/willingham\" target=\"_blank\">Blog Post by Daniel Willingham<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.cathy-moore.com\/2015\/06\/how-to-respond-to-learning-style-believers\/\" target=\"_blank\">Blog Post by Cathy Moore &#8212; How to Gently Persuade Believers of Learning Styles<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.learndash.com\/learning-styles-or-learning-preference\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Learning Styles Or Learning Preference?<\/strong> <\/a>&#8212; from learndash.com by Justin Ferriman<\/p>\n<p><em>Excerpts<span style=\"color: #800000;\"> (emphasis DSC):<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">There are fewer buzzwords in the elearning industry that result in a greater division than \u201clearning style\u201d. I know from experience. There have been\u00a0posts on this site\u00a0related to the topic which resulted in a few passionate\u00a0comments (such as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.learndash.com\/7-major-learning-styles-which-one-is-you\/\" target=\"_blank\">this one<\/a>).<br \/>\n&#8230;<br \/>\nAs such, my intent isn\u2019t to discuss learning styles. Everyone has their mind made up already. It\u2019s time\u00a0to move the discussion along.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Learner Preference &amp; Motivation<\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>If we bring the conversation \u201cup\u201d a level, we all ultimately agree that every learner has preferences and motivation.<\/strong> <\/span>No need to cite studies for this concept, just think about\u00a0yourself for a moment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">You enjoy certain things because you prefer them over others.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">You do\u00a0certain things because you are motivated to do so.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">In the same respect, <strong>people\u00a0<em>prefer<\/em> to learn information in a particular way.<\/strong> They also find some methods of learning more\u00a0<em>motivating<\/em> than others. Whether you attribute this to learning styles or not is completely up to you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.cathy-moore.com\/2015\/06\/how-to-respond-to-learning-style-believers\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>How to respond to learning-style believers<\/strong> <\/a>&#8211; from Cathy Moore<\/p>\n<p><em>Excerpt:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>First, the research<\/strong><br \/>\nThese resources link to or summarize research that debunks learning styles:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>My post <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.cathy-moore.com\/2010\/09\/learning-styles-worth-our-time\/\" target=\"_blank\">Learning styles: Worth our time?<\/a> summarizes some studies and has extensive discussion in the comments.<\/li>\n<li>My post <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.cathy-moore.com\/2015\/01\/how-to-be-an-ld-mythbuster\/\" target=\"_blank\">How to be a learning mythbuster<\/a> has links to easy, approachable debunking articles to pass to clients or teammates.<\/li>\n<li>The Debunking Club has compiled <a href=\"http:\/\/www.debunker.club\/learning-styles-are-not-an-effective-guide-for-learning-design.html\" target=\"_blank\">several other resources<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=855Now8h5Rs\" target=\"_blank\">This TED talk<\/a> in particular could be useful for your colleagues and clients.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00JQ3FN7M\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B00JQ3FN7M&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=makichan-20&amp;linkId=OI7JBEBLYFHXUQCI\" target=\"_blank\">Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning<\/a> by Peter C. Brown et al. is a readable summary of research.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0128015373\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0128015373&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=makichan-20&amp;linkId=DAAH7QZJ5AG2B2CB\" target=\"_blank\">Urban Myths about Learning and Education<\/a> by Pedro De Bruyckere et al. debunks several myths.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"meta\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mindtools.com\/blog\/2015\/05\/26\/learning-styles\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Are Learning Styles Going out of Style?<\/strong> <\/a>&#8212; from mindtools.com by Bruce Murray<\/p>\n<p class=\"meta\">Excerpt <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><em>(emphasis DSC):<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"meta\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Their first conclusion was that learners do indeed differ from one another. For example, some learners may have more ability, more interest, or more background than their classmates. Second, students do express preferences for how they like information to be presented to them\u2026 Third, after a careful analysis of the literature, the researchers found no evidence showing that people do in fact learn better when an instructor tailors their teaching style to mesh with their preferred learning style.<\/p>\n<p class=\"meta\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The idea of matching lessons to learning styles may be a fashionable trend that will go out of style itself. In the meantime, what are teachers and trainers to do? My advice is to leave the arguments to the academics. Here are some common-sense guidelines in planning a session of learning.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Follow your instincts. If you\u2019re teaching music or speech, for example, wouldn\u2019t auditory-based lessons make the most sense? You wouldn\u2019t teach geography with lengthy descriptions of a coastline\u2019s contours when simply showing a map would capture the essence in a heartbeat, right?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Since people clearly express learning style preferences, why not train them in their preferred style? If you give them what they want, they\u2019ll be much more likely to stay engaged and expand their learning.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aft.org\/ae\/summer2005\/willingham#pagenote1\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Do Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Learners Need Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Instruction?<\/strong><\/a> &#8212; from aft.org by Daniel T. Willingham<\/p>\n<p><em>Excerpt <span style=\"color: #800000;\">(emphasis DSC):<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Question: <\/strong>What does cognitive science tell us about the existence of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners and the best way to teach them?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The idea that people may differ in their ability to learn new material depending on its modality\u2014that is, whether the child hears it, sees it, or touches it\u2014has been tested for over 100 years. And the idea that these differences might prove useful in the classroom has been around for at least 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>What cognitive science has taught us is that <em>children do differ in their abilities with different modalities, but teaching the child in his best modality doesn<\/em>&#8216;<em>t affect his educational achievement<\/em>. <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>What does matter is whether the child is taught in the <em>content<\/em>&#8216;<em>s<\/em> best modality. All students learn more when content drives the choice of modality.<\/strong> <\/span>In this column, I will describe some of the research on matching modality strength to the modality of instruction. I will also address why the idea of tailoring instruction to a <em>student<\/em>&#8216;<em>s<\/em> best modality is so enduring\u2014despite substantial evidence that it is wrong.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #800000;\">From DSC:<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800000;\">Given the controversies over the phrase &#8220;learning styles,&#8221; I like to use the phrase &#8220;learning preferences&#8221; instead.\u00a0 Along these lines, I think our goal as teachers, trainers, professors, SME&#8217;s should be to make learning enjoyable &#8212; give people more choice and more control. Present content in as many different formats as possible.\u00a0 Give them multiple pathways to meet the learning goals and objectives.\u00a0 If we do that, learning can be more enjoyable and the engagement\/motivation levels should rise &#8212; resulting in enormous returns on investment over learners&#8217; lifetimes.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><em>Addendum on 6\/17\/15:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.willatworklearning.com\/2015\/06\/top-10-reasons-to-write-a-blog-post-debunking-the-learning-styles-myth.html\" target=\"_blank\">Top 10 Reasons to Write a Blog Post Debunking the Learning Styles Myth<\/a> <\/strong>&#8212; from willatworklearning.com by Will Thalheimer<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><em>Addendum on 7\/14\/15:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.willatworklearning.com\/2015\/07\/new-scientific-review-of-learning-styles.html\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>New Scientific Review of Learning Styles<\/strong><\/a> &#8212; from willatworklearning.com<br \/>\n<em>Excerpt:<br \/>\n<\/em>Just last month at the Debunker Club, we debunked the learning-styles approach to learning design based on our previous <a href=\"http:\/\/www.debunker.club\/learning-styles-are-not-an-effective-guide-for-learning-design.html\" target=\"_blank\">compilation of learning-styles debunking resources<\/a>.<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><br \/>\nNow, there&#8217;s a new research review by Daniel Willingham, debunker extraordinaire, and colleagues.<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><br \/>\nWillingham, D. T., Hughes, E. M., &amp; Dobolyi, D. G. (2015). The scientific status of learning styles theories. <em>Teaching of Psychology, 42<\/em>(3), 266-271. <a href=\"http:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/doi\/10.1177\/0098628315589505\">http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1177\/0098628315589505<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every learner is different but not because of their learning styles &#8212; from clive-shepherd.blogspot.com by Clive Sheperd Excerpt: I&#8217;ve been reading Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter Brown and Henry Roediger (Harvard University Press, 2014). What a great book! It provides a whole load of useful tips for learners, teachers and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[322,200,71,432,102,7,228,223,15,423,199,406,23,279,226,173,101,66,89,50,188,118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjunct-faculty","category-corporate-universities","category-faculty-staff","category-learner-profiles","category-learning","category-learning-ecosystem","category-learning-preferences","category-learning-theories","category-lifelong-learning","category-love-of-learning","category-more-voice-more-choice-more-control","category-motivation","category-multimedia","category-participation","category-passions","category-pedagogy","category-psychology","category-student-related","category-teachers","category-teaching-learning","category-teaching-online","category-training-corporate-universities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50794"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51105,"href":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50794\/revisions\/51105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danielschristian.com\/learning-ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}