Witten 1

Dustin Witten

Workman

English 1201

27 March 2020

Are Learning Styles Beneficial?

I always knew I couldn’t find happiness in just any career field, I needed to be making a

difference in people’s lives, hopefully, leaving them better than when we met. What would I do

to help me achieve the fulfillment I desired? I struggled with that question for years. I began

looking at what I enjoyed doing and even found that hard to figure out, kind of like when

someone asks you to tell them about yourself and you suddenly forget who you are and just stare

blankly back at them. Initially, I decided I would take on the world of healthcare, what was better

than healing the sick and injured? I had even begun to get my education towards this goal. I went

to a vocational high school, the Greene County Career Center, and began college as a pre-

medical student at Wright State University, having my doubts the entire time. Those doubts took

me back to one of my original questions, what do I enjoy that I can use to benefit others? From a

young age, I loved to read, I would stay up way too late not able to go to sleep until I had

finished my latest literary conquest. English had always been my favorite subject, and the one I

excelled at most. It was a decision that should have been obvious from the start, I would love to

be an English teacher. Sure, it may not be healing the sick, but it makes just as big of a difference

to enlighten younger generations.

Even now, as a 21-year-old freshman in college, I think towards the future as to what

kind of teacher I will be, and what I can do to make sure I do the best I can. While I was still in

high school it was not uncommon to hear teachers talk about learning styles and how their
 Witten 2

lessons geared toward them. I found this to be more common once I transferred from the setting

of regular high school to vocational school. Vocational education is centered around preparing

students for their future in a particular field, so they are given a great amount of lab time. It was

wildly believed that those of us who did well in our vocational studies were kinesthetic learners,

people who learn best by getting physically involved in the material, and took a lot away from

our hands-on time in those lab settings. This led me to wonder how learning styles help students

achieve their academic potentials, if at all. What I found while researching the topic came as

quite a shock since learning styles were so popular in my high school experience. When the

education system accommodates students preferred learning styles it can harm their success in

school by limiting the studying strategies they know how to use and allowing them to blame their

instructor’s teaching styles when they fail to comprehend materials.

Learning styles are described as how learners gather, process, organize, conclude, and

retain information that they will use in the future (Chick). The styles can be categorized as

visual, aural, verbal, and kinesthetic. A visual learner learns best from what they see, like images

and graphs. An aural learner is one who learns best through what they are told, they would

succeed in a lecture-style classroom. Verbal learners, or reading and writing learners, do best

when they communicate topics through speech. And Kinesthetic learners are hands-on and

would not do well with lectures or textbooks.

Visual learning is done when one is presented with images to display information, such

as charts or graphs. This is most commonly done in the classroom when the teacher draws on the

white board, gives students hand-outs, or has them prepare presentations. For visual learning, it

is mostly completed without much communication, unlike auditory learning. Auditory learning

takes place when information is presented through speaking and listening. This is seen through
 Witten 3

lectures, students reading out loud to themselves, and through discussions about the information.

Visual learning, also called reading and writing learning, is completed through reading text and

taking notes of either key points or paraphrasing into one’s own words. Kinesthetic learning

revolves around using your body to learn with a hands-on approach. This style would work best

when practicing activities or acting something out.

Those who believe in the myth of learning styles determine one’s style by surveying

them, looking at how they act, and even what type of career an individual pursues. People who

tend to organize material by their similarity, or have careers in architecture, project management,

engineering, or design are seen as visual learners. Those who notice differences in sounds, such

as tones and pitches in another person's voice tend to be classified as aural learners. They also

can be seen as people who go on to become musicians, recording engineers, and speech

pathologist. If someone enjoys keeping written documentation of upcoming events or things that

are happening, or take a lot notes in class, they are seen as verbal learners, and are viewed as

most likely to become journalist, public speakers, or go into the world of politics. And if

someone has ADHD or ADD they are easy to be told they are a kinesthetic learner, and would

enjoy a job in something like dancing, where they use their body vigorously (Hoerner).

The thinking behind these means of labeling learners seems to make sense at a first

glance, why wouldn’t someone who enjoys taking notes and feels they benefit best from them be

a visual learner? However, no research has been gathered to support the idea that specific

learning styles better help students learn and retain the information they are presented. Even

though an individual learner may not benefit from their own learning style, different disciplines

may be taught better depending on the style used. For example, nursing students are often taught

with a kinesthetic approach, using their peers and mannequins to learn on. With this in mind, a
 Witten 4

student who has been instructed to focus on using visual or aural styles would have a hard time

adapting to the hands-on environment of a nursing class and may find themselves falling behind

those around them. If they had been instructed to learn how to use kinesthetic learning prior to

college, they would have the skill set needed to get the most out of their nursing labs.

Learning styles can be traced back to Aristotle in 334 B.C, who believed that children all

possess different talents and skills that carried over into their academic lives (Haswell). In 1978,

Lev Vygotsky began putting his own theories out there, stating that social learning came before

cognitive development. He believed that one’s environment had a lot to do with how they think

and what they think about. Along with this, he found a person’s community to be the biggest

factor in how they processed things. In a contrasting view, Jean Piaget believed that development

had to come before a child could learn. Unlike Vygotsky, Piaget thought that development was

driven by independent experiences. Currently, there is a system in place for determining a child’s

learning style, the VAK system. VAK stands for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.

Fig 1. Diagram of the VAK system (Mohammadnoor and Injadat).

The VAK system was created in the 1920’s by a group of phycologists. Their intent was

to classify the different ways people learn into common groups. It can also be seen as VARK,
 Witten 5

when one chooses to add reading and writing to the groups (“VAK Learning Styles”). The

system is used to help determine what type of learner a person is and what style they should be

using. It also displays information about each learning style. The system uses your own

preferences to determine which way it believes you will learn best. However, just like with any

other system for learning styles, VAK is not able to supply supporting research saying their

methods help those who them.

Researching learning styles will almost always bring you to the point that there is no

scientific evidence backing their use. However, teachers still insist on their beneficial effects.

People are able to develop preferences for how they study; however, studies do not show that

students learning is enhanced by using self-reported learning styles. (“Learning Styles as a

Myth”) This argument is ongoing as educational facilities still practice learning styles without

reason. Many call out the harm that comes from their use, as well as showing statistics on

teacher’s beliefs. While research does not show that accommodating learning styles helps

students individually, it does show to harm overall education.

The brain holds functions in its prefrontal cortex, the area responsible for cognitive

thinking, personality, and decision making, those functions are able to power through processes

intended for learning to reach desired outcomes (Kaufman). It is consistently shown that

improved learning outcomes cannot be linked to learning styles. In fact, it is believed to be

beneficial for students to engage in as many sensory techniques as possible. Just another way

learning styles limit student’s abilities and harm their potential. If students were exposed to all of

the styles as opposed to the one they find to be the best for them then they would be able to

benefit from them all rather than be restricted to the use of one.
 Witten 6

A study done at Indiana University surveyed students to report their learning styles. This

survey was done with two questions in mind: Are students currently using techniques associated

to their style? And, are outcomes of those students who used their learning styles better than

those of the students who did not? 70% of students did not use the strategies to go along with

their preferred learning style. Seeing as how students blame bad outcomes on their teachers not

synchronizing learning styles, one would think they would at least study in a way they felt was

best for them. However, Students who did choose to use their styles did not show to do any

better in any of their academics (May).

The same researchers that completed the Indiana University study say that using learning

styles can create additional stress for teachers and work like crutches for their students (Lindsay).

Teachers not only have to make lesson plans based on curriculum requirements and the time

frame that they are given to teach a course, but they are also expected to do so while giving

special thought towards learning styles, and in the end, it doesn’t improve their student’s

education. “Students themselves are looking at it as, ‘well, if they don’t hit my learning style

there’s no possible way I can learn this so why should I try?’” (qtd. In Lindsay). Students

become so dependent on the idea that they have their own specified way of learning that they

won’t branch outside of its confinements, only setting limitations for themselves.

Studies have concluded that more than 90% of the world's teachers believe in learning

styles (Gritzali). A research team in Michigan surveyed several hundred adults to find out if they

believed in the use of learning styles. 96% of non-teachers and 91% of teachers were found to

believe in their effects (Watson). Teachers spend large portions of their time creating lesson

plans that tailor to, what they believe to be, their students preferred and most beneficial learning

styles. This wastes the instructor’s time as students will benefit from learning with various styles
 Witten 7

(Nancekivell). Teachers use the argument that they see evidence backing learning styles in their

own classroom, but psychology deems this to be nothing more than confirmation bias. This

means that these teachers allow themselves to see and process information that confirms the

benefits of learning styles, while they tend to ignore the information presented that counters their

use (Buschkuehl and Tran). If teachers choose to form their opinions based on their own

classrooms, then their analysis should be completed by someone brought in, possibly a different

teacher, who can watch and record the grades of student’s both with and without the use of

learning styles. Fresh eyes, without bias to a particular class, is the only solid way to use

gathered information.

The same survey also found that the respondents believed people are born predisposed to

a certain learning style, that the style can be found at a young age, learning styles are results in

brain differences, and that those with different learning styles will thrive in different classroom

environments and careers. Perhaps the most intriguing finding of the survey was that educators

who worked with younger children were the ones with the greatest likelihood to push learning

styles on their students. Teaching children from a young age to focus most of their study and

classroom habits on one style could make it harder for them to branch out as they grow older

since young children are more susceptible to mind-altering messages. Leaving them to struggle

as they are taught new and more advanced materials in their years to come.

A mixture of 30 people from different fields of science and education signed a statement

and sent it to The Guardian stating that they held concerns over the learning style-based teaching

adopted by teachers. The group of academics believes schools need to opt for approaches with

scientific evidence supporting their use rather than continuing to use these practices with no
 Witten 8

backing. Among the 30 individuals who signed this letter was Steven Pinker, Dorothy Bishop,

and Uta Frith, all professors at renowned universities.

Even with the lack of scientific evidence, many teaching certification programs teach

aspiring educators to use these learning styles. Possibly, this is why 91% of teachers believe in

the benefits of using them. Instead of surveying and calling teachers out on believing in myths,

maybe it is the teaching programs that need to be adjusted. It seems that young teachers being

taught about them is almost a repetition of the fact that young children are taught to use them,

both being susceptible to their instructor’s misguidance. On top of this, a large number of

educational products are focused on learning styles. This leads students to study only using the

style they believe fits them best.

“All kids benefit from being taught in all modalities. They need to be as strong in as

many as possible. … You have to be careful about limiting a child.” (qtd. In Longstreth). This

quote comes from a first-grade teacher who believes in learning styles, but also believes in their

disadvantages. To categorize a child based on what their parent, teacher, or the student them self

perceives as their learning style will restrain them from adapting later on in life.

It is okay not to want to push the child too hard to learn new styles, but it is not okay,

however, to hold their hand and allow them to stick to a single one. This will carry on as they age

and become high schoolers, where they will begin to advocate for themselves. If they do not

know how to take advantage of multiple learning techniques, they will use just the one they

know, and it will hamper their development. And sure enough, this will cause issues in their

adult lives as well. If a child is told from a young age that they are a kinesthetic learner and they

find themselves in a job where they need more than a hand-on activity to learn how to complete

their job description, then they will need to know how to adapt.
 Witten 9

“I don’t really think the standard way of teaching applies to everyone because everyone

is different, … Everyone retains information differently so assuming that everyone will learn the

same way is incorrect.” (qtd. In Tucker). The above is from a student at Chantilly High School,

where the student’s opinions match those of the Michigan survey. They believe that students

work through their course materials at different paces, needing different amounts of help from

their teachers and should be able to do things at their own pace, their own way. The school took

a survey on 312 of their student’s preferred learning styles, 60.9% classified themselves as visual

learners, 39.5% as kinesthetic, 10.3% as auditory, and 3.9% as other. In order for this survey to

show real results, it needs to take in a larger amount of data. Going beyond just one school’s

student body, do an entire county or even try for the state. The broader the data the more reliable

their results would have been.

The student’s quote discussed above also mentions a “standard way of teaching” that

doesn’t apply to all students. But it is never described what that standard is. Does this student

feel that there is one learning style used by majority of teachers that does not work for most

students? And if so, why is it that not every student can benefit from that style? Again, teaching

students to use every style is the best way to ensure they encounter as few obstacles as possible

in their education. It would also destroy the excuse for students who do poorly in a class that

they cannot do well because the instructor does not teach using their preferred learning style.
 Witten 10

Fig. 2 A chart showing the results of Chantilly High School’s survey results (Tucker).

I wanted to know the outcomes of using learning styles for my future career as an

educator. It is a common misconception that learning styles will help students succeed in their

classes by giving them their best study tools, I even believed this to be true myself and partially

practiced it in high school. It wasn’t until I began my research that I learned I was just part of the

majority who has been falsely educated on the matter. From what I found, learning styles are

harmful to a student’s progress, oftentimes starting from a young age as studies showed younger

students are most likely to be taught to use them. Being taught to hone in on one certain style

gives students a narrow thought process as well as the ability to blame their teachers for bad

outcomes if they don’t connect to their style. They can even continue to affect people into their

adult lives, stunting their ability to work in certain fields as they are not able to think things

through in more than one way, which is often required to excel. Teachers are taught to use them

in their classrooms, accepting them as a given even without any scientific backing. Despite them

being deemed harmful by many researchers, and a neuromyth by phycologists, even students

believe they possess one specific learning style and hold on to it. Teaching certification programs
 Witten 11

should be regulated to not allow the teaching of learning styles unless one day research finds

reason to believe in their beneficial use. Instead, the programs should be teaching that students

need to be indulged in all styles in order to give themselves a variety of ways to study and

process not only course materials but everyday aspects of life. Allowing the education system to

keep instilling these methods on students will result in continued harmful effects on generations

to come, limiting their academic performance.

 Witten 12

Works Cited

Ahmad, Mohammadnoor, and Mohammad Injadat. “Fig. 3: VAK Learning Styles Model .”

ResearchGate, 26 Mar. 2019, www.researchgate.net/figure/VAK-Learning-Styles-

Model_fig1_326564924.

Buschkuehl, Martin, and Cathy Tran. “Neuromyth: Do Learning Styles Matter?” Neuromyth: Do

Learning Styles Matter?, blog.mindresearch.org/blog/learning-styles-myth.

Chick, Nancy. “Learning Styles.” Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University, 6 Nov. 2019,

cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/learning-styles-preferences/.

Gritzali, et al. “The Learning Styles Educational Neuromyth: Lack of Agreement Between

Teachers' Judgments, Self-Assessment, and Students' Intelligence.” Frontiers, Frontiers,

14 Nov. 2018, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2018.00105/full.

Haswell, Joanna. “Merrimack ScholarWorks.” Merrimack ScholarWorks, Merrimack College,

2017,

scholarworks.merrimack.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=honors_capston

es.

Hoerner, Natalie. “The Seven Learning Styles - How Do You Learn?” Inspire Education |

Online Courses & Accredited Training Australia, 3 Aug. 2017,

www.inspireeducation.net.au/blog/the-seven-learning-styles/.

Kaufman, Scott Barry. “Enough with the ‘Learning Styles’ Already!” Scientific American Blog

Network, Scientific American, 8 Dec. 2018, blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-

minds/enough-with-the-learning-styles-already/.
 Witten 13

“Learning Styles as a Myth: Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning.” Learning Styles as a

Myth | Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning,

poorvucenter.yale.edu/LearningStylesMyth.

Lindsay, Jeanie. “New Study Says Learning Styles Don't Harm or Help Students.” WFYI Public

Media, 20 June 2018, www.wfyi.org/news/articles/new-study-says-learning-styles-dont-

harm-or-help-students.

Longstreth, Breck. “What Parents Need to Know about Their Child's Learning Style.”

ParentMap, 1 Aug. 2009, www.parentmap.com/article/what-parents-need-to-know-

about-their-childs-learning-style.

May, Cindi. “The Problem with ‘Learning Styles.’” Scientific American, Scientific American, 29

May 2018, www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-learning-styles/.

Nancekivell, Shaylene. “Belief in Learning Styles Myth May Be Detrimental.” American

Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, 30 May 2019,

www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/05/learning-styles-myth.

Tucker, Sydney. “Teaching Methods Should Accommodate Learning Styles.” The Purple Tide,

27 Feb. 2019, chantillynews.org/4242/opinions/teaching-methods-should-accommodate-

learning-styles/.

“VAK Learning Styles.” MindTools.com, www.mindtools.com/pages/article/vak-learning-

styles.htm.

Watson, Andrew. “Understanding (False) Learning Styles Beliefs.” Learning & the Brain, 19

Dec. 2019, www.learningandthebrain.com/blog/understanding-false-learning-styles-

beliefs/.
 Witten 14

Weale, Sally. “Teachers Must Ditch 'Neuromyth' of Learning Styles, Say Scientists.” The

Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 Mar. 2017,

www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/13/teachers-neuromyth-learning-styles-

scientists-neuroscience-education.