Are there any learning styles?
Have you heard of different learning styles? Some are visual, others are listeners, and others have to touch something to learn. However, research findings most often confirm that learning styles are nothing but pleasant myths.
What are Learning Styles?
Learning styles (so-called Learning Styles) is a method of teaching theories about differences and the ways in which information is learned. In general, the point is that students can be divided into groups according to their “learning styles”, because everyone learns differently. Visuals, listeners, and tactics are the most commonly spoken about (although different researchers’ theories also mention other categories such as readers).
According to learning styles theory, teachers and students should learn their learning styles according to how they learn. Go to the site and find out morehttps://argoprep.com/blog/learning-styles-series-the-interpersonal-learner/
Thus, visual discussions should be turned around, and photographs should be viewed. Słuchowiec should listen to lectures on recording the recorder. Dotykowiec course should occupy about a hand, touch it, or at least a jump in the process of repeating words from English.
That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?
Before you go any further, you can use a short quiz to find out what kind of student you have.
What kind of student are you?
If you want to have fun and see what kind of student you are, you can decide this short quiz and go back to the text.
Where do the theories of learning styles come from?
In the early nineties, New Zealand school inspector Neil Fleming decided to answer a question that had been bothering him for years. During his career he was hospitalised in 9000 different classes, but he did not know how some teachers managed to contact each of their students (and others did not). What is the difference in their approach?
He started to see how we liked it when someone gave us instructions. For example, if we want to go somewhere, then would we prefer someone to explain it to us, would we prefer to look at a map?
Popularity of learning styles
Following this example, he created the VARK questionnaire, which examines which of the four main categories of learning styles we belong to (Visual-visual, Hearing, Reading, and Kinestics). Probably on a wave of popularity building self-confidence in the 80’s and 90’s became very popular around the world – because each person is unique, everyone should have their own individual learning style!
According to Dr. Abby Knoll of Central University of Michigan today, every teacher loves to believe that if we just compare the learning style with the student, Einstein and I can do with everyone. Students and their parents think alike. If a student has bad grades at school, of course it’s not because he’s lazy and doesn’t study, but because the teacher doesn’t teach well!
Such tests are already being carried out for children of primary school age in the West. Every pupil, no doubt, has a theory about what kind of student he is. In 2014, 90% of teachers around the world believed there were such things as learning styles. It is such a consensus that it even deserves a place among the “50 Myths of Popular Psychology” in the popular book by Scott
Lilenfeld and Stephen Jay Lin. Why?
Styles of learning in the midst of criticism.
Unfortunately, no scientific research has confirmed an interesting theory about learning styles. Interestingly, such research usually begins with an optimistic description of this theory to finish the conclusion that, unfortunately, this theory does not work in practice.
On the contrary, there are many signs that we usually represent a combination of different learning styles.
For example, Dr. Husman (English research source here ) divided students according to their learning styles and suggested strategies that would suit them. It turned out, however, that students preferred to learn in their own way rather than as a questionnaire that they would have to learn. Moreover, even if they followed her instructions, their results were not better. In short, we like to learn according to our tried and tested methods. And even if we decide to change them, it won’t change anything!
In another experiment (English source here), researchers checked whether visual images would be better memorized by the images and the auditors of the word. It turned out, however, that there was no difference. Our learning style speaks only about how much we like to learn. And nothing else. It doesn’t affect our results.
After further research (the source of English here ), the researchers think that teachers should stop trying to adapt lessons to the “needs” of słuchowców because in the end, do more harm to them, in this way than help!
They should rather help them be friends with visual techniques that give the best results in their research – no matter what type of student we think.
How do you learn?
It does not mean that science has nothing to add about how to learn. Below are some tips from different researchers in the short video “What can people do to learn better?
I recommend reading them in Polish first, and then trying to watch the video below, which should be understood when you know what they will talk about.
- Remember that everyone can know what they want.
- Feel the comfort (comfort) of being uncomfortable. It’s okay if you don’t know anything.
- If students know in advance what the result will be, it will not be interesting to discover (discover) new things.
- The best pupils are curious. Ask questions.
- Teach before bed, then it will be better coded in long-term memory.
- Believe in yourself. Good students know that mistakes are good.
- Ask the questions you are really interested in, not the questions you should ask.
- Listen to the stories, not just look at the screen. Build your imagination.
