I’ve always thought of myself as a hands on kind of learner. I learn better when I

can DO things with what I’ve learned. That’s why experiments are one of my favorite parts

about science classes. You get to test what you’ve learned by applying it!

Meshing is the idea that a teacher should match their teaching style for a kid’s individual

learning style. Like using flash cards for those who are visual learners! Basically,

treat kids like the special snowflakes they are and poof! All their school troubles will

go away!

Buuuuuuuut not so fast. The topic of learning styles is super complicated. I mean there’s

supposedly a lot of learning styles out there. One study from the Learning and Skills Research

Centre in London found over 70 different types. Most of these are constructed as dichotomous

with opposing concepts, like visual learners vs auditory. That sort of thing. So it’s

hard to pinpoint what exactly what we mean when we talk about learning styles. That’s

the first problem.

Another problem, There’s not a lot of empirical evidence to support learning styles. Sure

it’s been studied, but most studies weren’t well designed. A 2009 study published in the

journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest found a “lack of methodologically

sound studies of learning styles”.

The authors looked for a rigorous approach to testing the validity of claims that learning

styles matter. They laid down requirements for a thorough investigation. Divide people

up based on their supposed learning style, randomly assign them whatever method of instruction,

then test all the students. Basically the authors were looking for an experiment that

“revealed a specific type of interaction between learning style and instructional method”.

The students who were assigned their preferred method should perform better on the test.

They looked at lots of different studies and found that lots of people will proclaim some

type of preferred educational experience. But what they found was nilch. Nada. Basically

of all the studies that are out there, most rely on self-reporting for determining someone’s

learning style. Self reporting… really isn’t the most scientifically rigorous. Those studies

that were somewhat better had contradicting results.

but that’s not so say it’s totally junk.The researchers even caution that they aren’t

saying the same manner of instruction works for all students in all situations. People

do differ in personality, temperament, and ability, no one is doubting that. Treating

students as individuals probably won’t hurt them.

So the best way to teach a subject? Well depends on the subject. The authors of the study use

the example of teaching writing. Of course it’s going to be a heavily verbal course.

And something like geometry is going to use a lot of visuals to aid in learning.

As for the best way to teach a student? Well one study published in the journal Educational

Psychologist found that people who are new to a subject learn differently than those

who have more expertise. In what’s called the “Expertise Reversal Effect”, learning

something new can overwhelming someone’s working memory, they don’t have any prior

experience or knowledge to draw upon, so they need more guidance. On the other hand, those

who are experts or more knowledgeable about a subject might be harmed by too much guidance.

People without a lot of experience learn better by looking at examples and those with more

experience need to be more hands on, it’s better for them if they solve problems by

themselves.

Other studies show that engaging students is the best way to go. One study published

in the journal Science found that a way to teach called “deliberate practice” helped

students do twice as well on a test and increased attendance by 20%! The trick? This practice

relies less on lectures and focuses more on the students.

Students are first asked what they know about a subject in a short multiple choice test

and they are encouraged to discuss what they think they know with other students, then

once the teacher understands what the students know or might actually be wrong about, they

are better able to deal with it and addresses those problems directly.

I mean I’d much rather a teacher get right to the stuff I have questions about than spend

whole boring class periods going over material I understand.

And really, learning is so hard anyways, all that over-thinking actually makes it more

difficult to learn, Crystal has the scoop on that, in this episode right here.

So what do you think? What’s your favorite way to learn?

Let us know down in the comments below