Yes, There Are No Learning Styles

According to the Association for Psychological Science, “There is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments into general educational practice.”

Their report goes on to say:

An obvious point is that the optimal instructional method is likely to vary across disciplines. For instance, the optimal curriculum for a writing course probably includes a heavy verbal emphasis, whereas the most efficient and effective method of teaching geometry obviously requires visual–spatial materials.

Of course! Matching the instructional approach to the content!! What have I been saying all this time?!?

Many thanks to Will Thalheimer for posting about the report. For more details, read his post and follow the links he provides to the report itself.

ASAE and The Center — isn’t it time you revisited your treatment of learning styles in your PD materials?

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