Friday 2 December 2011

Every time you say 'learning styles' a kitten dies

KittensArticle by Guy Wallace. More arguments against learning styles. He quotes a number of people who provide evidence against the idea. Such as Harold Stolovich, who provides some good bullet points about what really matters in learning: meaning, structure, clear objectives, clear purpose.

Learning Styles don't predict learning under different instructional conditions. The psychological research doesn't support it either, and brain research suggests that when we are learning the whole of the brain, or at least many different parts of it, are at work - not just the 'visual' or 'auditory' areas.

Learners certainly differ in their interests, and in their preferences for learning. That doesn't mean that producing materials to suit those preferences makes any difference to their learning outcomes. You can't learn from a style independent of content - the materials that you use to teach a particular topic should suit the topic and the interests of the learners.

No comments:

Post a Comment