Perhaps the most pervasive myth in education is that people learn better when taught through a preferred “learning style.” But, we must be clear on what the science and research is telling us: Learning styles—auditory, kinesthetic, visual, or some combination of these three—do not exist, despite the concepts remaining hugely popular.

Advocates of teaching to a student’s preferred learning style do so despite a complete lack of evidence that it’s effective. A recent paper in Anatomical Sciences Education in which researches conducted a learning styles investigation of hundreds of undergraduates provided no findings to support learning styles. At the beginning of the semester, researchers Polly Husmann and Valerie Dean O’Loughlin surveyed hundreds of undergraduate students in an anatomy course who were directed to complete the popular learning style survey known as “the VARK.” Taken by tens of millions of people worldwide, the VARK sorts students according to how much they prefer to learn either visually, by listening, through reading and writing, or through practice by example (by doing).

The VARK website then offers students study tips based on their preferred learning style. The researchers then asked students to adopt the recommended study practices, and—later in the term—the students were asked about the methods they actually used when studying outside the classroom to check for consistency. Finally, researchers analyzed the students’ end of semester grades to check for any correlation between performance, dominant learning style, and how they studied outside of the classroom.

The results were in line with many other studies that have debunked the learning style myth—Student grade performance was not correlated in any statistically significant way with their preferred learning style. Additionally, 67% of students failed to study in a way consistent with their preferred learning style, and, for those who did study in line with their preferred learning style, they did not receive higher grades than students in their class who did not.

So, what is the bottom line? As parents, administrators, and educators, we should not be promoting the concept of learning styles for studying. So, remember this next time you hear a student say he cannot learn math because he isn’t a visual learner.

If you have questions about best practices in learning or have a son or daughter in need of study skills tutoring, please contact our team via telephone at (720) 605-6622 or via email at info@mosereducational.com.