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Journal article 2472 views

The Learning Styles Myth is Thriving in Higher Education

Philip M. Newton, Phil Newton Orcid Logo

Frontiers in Psychology, Volume: 6

Swansea University Author: Phil Newton Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01908

Abstract

The existence of ‘Learning Styles’ is a common ‘neuromyth’, and their use in all forms of education has been thoroughly and repeatedly discredited in the research literature. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that their use remains widespread. This perspective article is an attempt to understand...

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Published in: Frontiers in Psychology
Published: 2015
Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01908/abstract
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa25063
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spelling 2018-09-03T12:06:09.2017944 v2 25063 2015-12-15 The Learning Styles Myth is Thriving in Higher Education 6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8 0000-0002-5272-7979 Phil Newton Phil Newton true false 2015-12-15 PMSC The existence of ‘Learning Styles’ is a common ‘neuromyth’, and their use in all forms of education has been thoroughly and repeatedly discredited in the research literature. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that their use remains widespread. This perspective article is an attempt to understand if and why the myth of Learning Styles persists. I have done this by analyzing the current research literature to capture the picture that an educator would encounter were they to search for “Learning Styles” with the intent of determining whether the research evidence supported their use. The overwhelming majority (89%) of recent research papers, listed in the ERIC and PubMed research databases, implicitly or directly endorse the use of Learning Styles in Higher Education. These papers are dominated by the VAK and Kolb Learning Styles inventories. These presence of these papers in the pedagogical literature demonstrates that an educator, attempting to take an evidence-based approach to education, would be presented with a strong yet misleading message that the use of Learning Styles is endorsed by the current research literature. This has potentially negative consequences for students and for the field of education research. Journal Article Frontiers in Psychology 6 Higher Education, Learning Styles, VARK, Kolb, Evidence based education 31 12 2015 2015-12-31 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01908 http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01908/abstract <script type="text/javascript" src="https://d1bxh8uas1mnw7.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"></script><div class="altmetric-embed" data-badge-type="donut" data-altmetric-id="4826085"></div> COLLEGE NANME Medicine COLLEGE CODE PMSC Swansea University 2018-09-03T12:06:09.2017944 2015-12-15T09:18:44.7218789 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Medicine Philip M. Newton 1 Phil Newton 0000-0002-5272-7979 2
title The Learning Styles Myth is Thriving in Higher Education
spellingShingle The Learning Styles Myth is Thriving in Higher Education
Phil Newton
title_short The Learning Styles Myth is Thriving in Higher Education
title_full The Learning Styles Myth is Thriving in Higher Education
title_fullStr The Learning Styles Myth is Thriving in Higher Education
title_full_unstemmed The Learning Styles Myth is Thriving in Higher Education
title_sort The Learning Styles Myth is Thriving in Higher Education
author_id_str_mv 6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8
author_id_fullname_str_mv 6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8_***_Phil Newton
author Phil Newton
author2 Philip M. Newton
Phil Newton
format Journal article
container_title Frontiers in Psychology
container_volume 6
publishDate 2015
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01908
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str Swansea University Medical School - Medicine{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Medicine
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01908/abstract
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description The existence of ‘Learning Styles’ is a common ‘neuromyth’, and their use in all forms of education has been thoroughly and repeatedly discredited in the research literature. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that their use remains widespread. This perspective article is an attempt to understand if and why the myth of Learning Styles persists. I have done this by analyzing the current research literature to capture the picture that an educator would encounter were they to search for “Learning Styles” with the intent of determining whether the research evidence supported their use. The overwhelming majority (89%) of recent research papers, listed in the ERIC and PubMed research databases, implicitly or directly endorse the use of Learning Styles in Higher Education. These papers are dominated by the VAK and Kolb Learning Styles inventories. These presence of these papers in the pedagogical literature demonstrates that an educator, attempting to take an evidence-based approach to education, would be presented with a strong yet misleading message that the use of Learning Styles is endorsed by the current research literature. This has potentially negative consequences for students and for the field of education research.
published_date 2015-12-31T03:29:48Z
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score 11.037581

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