Uploaded August 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Learning styles is a myth. The larger question is: why does this idea have such staying power? What keeps it popular? Why does it keep floating around teaching (and Youtube!) circles?
This video explores some of the surprising reasons why this idea just won’t go away.
Join my online learning community: benjaminkeep.com/community
00:00 Introduction
00:39 We love personality tests.
01:24 Everybody already “knows”.
02:33 It’s being taught everywhere.
04:09 Something needs explaining.
05:08 Words are hard.
For references on the lack of evidence for learning styles, see:
Riener, C., & Willingham, D. (2010). The myth of learning styles. Change: The magazine of higher learning, 42(5), 32-35. (currently at http://sites.psu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/10091/2012/03/Reiner-and-Willingham_2010.pdf). A very readable piece.
Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological science in the public interest, 9(3), 105-119. (currently at researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Bjork-2/publication/233600402_Learning_Styles_Concepts_and_Evidence/links/5a0a0928a6fdcc2736dea17b/Learning-Styles-Concepts-and-Evidence.pdf). This is one of the classics.
Willingham, D. T., Hughes, E. M., & Dobolyi, D. G. (2015). The scientific status of learning styles theories. Teaching of Psychology, 42(3), 266-271. (currently at https://career.ucsf.edu/sites/g/files/tkssra2771/f/Article%20UCSF%20SEJC%20January%202017.pdf)
Cuevas, J. (2015). Is learning styles-based instruction effective? A comprehensive analysis of recent research on learning styles. Theory and Research in Education, 13(3), 308-333.
(currently at https://www.academia.edu/download/45118709/Theory_and_Research_in_Education-2015-Cuevas-1477878515606621.pdf)
Newton, P. M. (2015). The learning styles myth is thriving in higher education. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1908. (currently at frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01908/full)
Two really important articles highlight my fifth point: most people aren’t very precise when they say “learning styles” — it means different things to different people. And there’s a diverse ways that teachers implement the idea.
Papadatou-Pastou, M., Touloumakos, A. K., Koutouveli, C., & Barrable, A. (2021). The learning styles neuromyth: when the same term means different things to different teachers. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 36(2), 511-531. (currently at link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10212-020-00485-2)
Newton, P. M., & Salvi, A. (2020, December). How common is belief in the learning styles neuromyth, and does it matter? A pragmatic systematic review. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 5, p. 270). Frontiers. (currently at internal-journal.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2020.602451/full)
Learning styles is a myth. The larger question is: why does this idea have such staying power? What keeps it popular? Why does it keep floating around teaching (and Youtube!) circles?
This video explores some of the surprising reasons why this idea just won’t go away.
Join my online learning community: benjaminkeep.com/community
00:00 Introduction
00:39 We love personality tests.
01:24 Everybody already “knows”.
02:33 It’s being taught everywhere.
04:09 Something needs explaining.
05:08 Words are hard.
For references on the lack of evidence for learning styles, see:
Riener, C., & Willingham, D. (2010). The myth of learning styles. Change: The magazine of higher learning, 42(5), 32-35. (currently at http://sites.psu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/10091/2012/03/Reiner-and-Willingham_2010.pdf). A very readable piece.
Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological science in the public interest, 9(3), 105-119. (currently at researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Bjork-2/publication/233600402_Learning_Styles_Concepts_and_Evidence/links/5a0a0928a6fdcc2736dea17b/Learning-Styles-Concepts-and-Evidence.pdf). This is one of the classics.
Willingham, D. T., Hughes, E. M., & Dobolyi, D. G. (2015). The scientific status of learning styles theories. Teaching of Psychology, 42(3), 266-271. (currently at https://career.ucsf.edu/sites/g/files/tkssra2771/f/Article%20UCSF%20SEJC%20January%202017.pdf)
Cuevas, J. (2015). Is learning styles-based instruction effective? A comprehensive analysis of recent research on learning styles. Theory and Research in Education, 13(3), 308-333.
(currently at https://www.academia.edu/download/45118709/Theory_and_Research_in_Education-2015-Cuevas-1477878515606621.pdf)
Newton, P. M. (2015). The learning styles myth is thriving in higher education. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1908. (currently at frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01908/full)
Two really important articles highlight my fifth point: most people aren’t very precise when they say “learning styles” — it means different things to different people. And there’s a diverse ways that teachers implement the idea.
Papadatou-Pastou, M., Touloumakos, A. K., Koutouveli, C., & Barrable, A. (2021). The learning styles neuromyth: when the same term means different things to different teachers. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 36(2), 511-531. (currently at link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10212-020-00485-2)
Newton, P. M., & Salvi, A. (2020, December). How common is belief in the learning styles neuromyth, and does it matter? A pragmatic systematic review. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 5, p. 270). Frontiers. (currently at internal-journal.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2020.602451/full)
