The Learning Styles Educational Neuromyth: Lack of Agreement Between Teachers' Judgments, Self-Assessment, and Students' Intelligence

Marietta Papadatou-Pastou,Maria Gritzali,Alexia Barrable

doi:10.3389/feduc.2018.00105

Marietta Papadatou-Pastou, Maria Gritzali + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00105

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Abstract

Learning styles (LS) have dominated educational practice since their popularization in the 1970s. Studies have shown that they are accepted by more than 90% of teachers worldwide. However, LS have also received extensive criticism from researchers and academics, due to the poor theoretical justification of the theory, their problematic measurement, and the lack of systematic studies supporting them. The present study tested the hypothesis that teachers’ and students’ assessment of preferred LS should correspond. Moreover, it tested whether teachers’ judgment of LS is driven by the students’ IQ. Both questions were studied for the first time in a systematic fashion within LS research in primary school pupils. Fifth- and sixth-grade pupils (n = 199) were asked to self-assess their preferred LS, while their teachers were asked to provide their own assessment on individual pupils’ LS. No relationship was found between pupils’ self-assessment and teachers’ assessment, suggesting that teachers cannot assess the LS of their students accurately. Moreover, students’ intelligence was not found to drive teachers’ assessment of their learning styles. This study adds to the body of evidence that is skeptical of the adoption of LS in mainstream education.

Highlights

The term Learning Styles (LS) is used to describe the idea that different individuals differ in the modality of instruction that is most effective to them (Pashler et al, 2008)
Only four teachers referred to the VAK explicitly, that is by using the words visual, auditory, and/or kinaesthetic
The present study looked at whether self-assessment and teacher assessment agreed in the identification of preferred LS in primary school-aged pupils

Summary

Introduction

The term Learning Styles (LS) is used to describe the idea that different individuals differ in the modality of instruction that is most effective to them (Pashler et al, 2008). Criticism of the concept of LS has been widespread (Curry, 1990; Coffield et al, 2004; Geake, 2008) and in 2002 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), through its Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI), pronounced LS a neuromyth (OECD, 2002). The OECD classification was concerned with the three LS that are often seen in educational practice, namely the visual, auditory, or haptic (kinaesthetic) types (OECD, 2002). A study looking at teachers from the UK and the Netherlands showed that more than 90% of teachers believe there is an optimal delivery style for each learner (Dekker et al, 2012). In Greece, the setting for this current study, 97% of practicing teachers believe

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