Like most teachers, I have always been
taught that everyone has a particular learning style. Whether it’s visual,
auditory or kinesthetic, we all have a style that suits us best. But do we?
Apparently there is no definitive research that supports the learning styles
idea. Learning preferences exist,
certainly, but the importance of learning styles
may be wildly overstated. In fact, according to Glen (2009) teachers who cater
to specific learning styles may, if fact, be doing their students a disservice.
He states, “In almost every actual well-designed study, Mr.
Pashler and his colleagues write in their paper, "Learning Styles:
Concepts and Evidence," the pattern is similar: For a given lesson, one
instructional technique turns out to be optimal for all groups of students,
even though students with certain learning styles may not love that technique.”
In other words, even though students may prefer a certain method of
instruction, it may not be to their benefit to try and accommodate them.
Certain concepts are better suited to certain instructional methods. I know
that in my media center, my students would prefer video and game-based
instruction for virtually every lesson. I use video frequently, and I also
utilize games as often as possible, especially as a means of formative
assessment. But there are times when other instructional methods are necessary.
When learning about historical fiction, for example, I need to read to my
students. I simply can't justify showing a video when the
purpose of the lesson is to learn about a literary genre.
If there is no proof that teaching to accommodate
learning styles is effective, why does the theory persist? One reason may be
confirmation bias. After listening to The Psych Files podcast, I think I've been guilty of this myself. If I have to learn something new and my choices are a printed instruction manual with diagrams or a video on
youtube, I’m going to choose the video every time. In fact, I will seek out a
video before even attempting to read the instructions. But that doesn't mean
that I couldn't read the instructions and accomplish the task just as well, it
may simply be that I have successfully used video for instruction in the past
and know I am capable of learning in that mode.
What I learned from listening to and watching Willingham
this week is that good teachers use a variety of instructional tools to ensure
that all of their students learn. I teach the Dewey Decimal System, which is
not necessarily the most fascinating subject to my students, but it’s something
they need to understand in order to use the library. In order to suit all
learning styles, I show videos about the topic, my students play learning games
on the computer and we do activities where they go to the shelf and find books.
By integrating multi-modal instructional methods, I hope to appeal to all of my
students, regardless of their learning...preferences.
