I think people are using leraning styles and ability interchangeably. The flat simple truth is that teachers need to use multi-sensory teaching in order to reach all of their students. The best way to learn is to involve all the senses. It just makes good common sense!
Great, Dan! Frank Coffield et al have helped to debunk this 'VAK' nonsense here in the UK, where Learning Styles theory has been used effectively to blame teachers for low attainment in poorly-resourced institutions, shifting the blame from management, where it belongs. I have been asked to complete blank lesson plans in adult colleges which include 'V - A - K' and also 'O - T' (Olfactory / Touch) as headings, under which I am supposed to show how my English lang classes will meet these 'needs'.
Does VAK theory really predict that all learners will learn everything equally well, as long as the information is presented to them in their preferred modality? No. VAK actually explains why some people learn some types of information better than other types. A visual learner will learn the shapes of countries quicker than an auditory learner. Of course both visual and auditory learners will have a much harder time learning the shapes of countries by ear.
Is seeing pictures of specific objects really equivalent to hearing someone read the names of categories of objects? I would think that a better experiment would be to read the names to one group, and show the other group the names in writing.
@burgercide "VAK actually explains why some people learn some types of information better than other types. A visual learner will learn the shapes of countries quicker than an auditory learner." No, that's a difference in ability, not styles. No one disputes that there are differences in ability.
I imagine that the more senses that are engaged in a specific task, the more one would learn the task, as more sensory input is involved, as this would on the surface seem to indicate that one is more focused on the specific task that one is engaged in.
(2/2) portrayed in experimentation than learning style. And if you really think about it, the learning that we take for granted (like "what are the shape of a German Shepard's ears?") is usually coded visually. But the bottom line is, he's right- what we want children to learn is meaning! We WANT to know facts in order to be able to think critically and creatively! You can't have creative and critical thinking without knowing the baseline facts, and learning style ignores this premise.
(1/2) Jesus, too many of you people are focusing too much on something stupid (Algeria? Who cares? You weren't paying attention to the video if you noticed that it is not Algeria. Besides, Prof. Willingham might have recorded the audio before the visuals, so maybe he thought he said Chad or whatever- who cares!) He's making hypotheses based on logic and experiments. To me, this makes sense. Having transfer appropriate processing (encoding and retrieval are the same) is much more accurately...
2) You spend so long on the specific wording of the theory. You say "other people are better at learning auditory material than other people are." You also say "some people are especially good at learning certain types of information." Where its possible to understand a concept like a house in various ways why not just go with what your best at? (I mean someone described by one of your quotes above) Obviously learning the the shape of Chad is best learned with a map....
(2/3) yes, you are right in the process of METACOGNITION (term for storing memory) involves attaching meaning to information. Learning styles help the WAY that the child links meaning to information. Adapting to learning styles helps the ways that a student perceives the information. He is getting confused with learning styles and communication disorders. Testing for communication involves what the sound.failing to present the information in a style then the student wont attach meaning to it.
(1/3)The test intended of experiment is the participant (visual learner) is told the words verbally and to recall them. she may remember 6/10 words. She is then shown picture of words and recall them. she gets a 10/10. This shows that if you present the data visually she has a better retention to process and analyze the information than auditory. This test is used for students diagnosed with disabilities.
I love it when psychology begins to catch up with NLP. (Neuro-linguistic Programming as discovered and developed originally by Richard Bandler and John Grinder). This video shows just how misinterpreted the VAK model has been - especially in education circles. Other NLP references explain the other misnomers around learning styles.
I love it when psychology begins to catch up with NLP. (Neuro-linguistic Programming as discovered and developed originally by Richard Bandler and John Grinder). This video shows just how misinterpreted the VAK model has been - especially in educaiton circles. Other NLP references explain the other misnomers around learning styles.
More suffering for creative and interpersonal children. Fact based education based on: "Get the right answer, in the shortest amount of time." kills creativity and innovation. I agree with your slice of truth and disagree with your limited perspective. You offer no alternative, good teachers, don't have to adjust? What is a good teacher? What is optimal learning? Continue teaching academic silos? Disappointment this does not meet full truth, it is not because I have a limiting belief.
@williamstierle Um, okay, glad you agree with my slice of truth. Not sure why you think my perspective is limited, based on this video. My alternative--what I suggest teachers think about from the perspective of cognitive science--is outlined in a 2009 book and in regular columns in _American Educator_
This is the most absurd video there is. And if there is any real scientific evidence against the notion that no learning style exists then they do not understand how the brain works. I'm a visual-spatial learner and learn by pictures/movies in my head. I can read text, over and over again, and not understand a thing until I visualize, what I read. This is a conscious effort that I do. I cannot hear in my head at all. Everything i hear is a picture.
@Jaipaii Maybe you should stop LIMITING yourself with a conscious effort of visualizing and LISTEN to the meaning behind what this Professor is saying, and you'll understand that this video is far from absurd.
Learning styles don't exist. the prof is right. The confusion some have is that they don't "get" the way sense data must be organized into concepts, but the concept must first be ignited by sense data. It is the phenomenon of the objects/motions that ignite the concept, so various senses may be involved. Once the concept is ignited it can be accessed merely by text (symbols). That a text may require mental visualization or physical model construction is normal for most and not a sign of "style".
Quick question: when learning something in a series of instances, is there any difference if you use different approaches at each instance. For instance, I'm a language learner, and I recently started to revise vocabulary by reading over it, then recording it and listening to it.
Would there be any difference if I were to spend three instances of 15 minutes reading over a list of ten words, compared to one instance of 15 minutes reading, then another listening, then another writing the words?
@jarrmful I expect that this study has been run, but I don't know of it. . .shooting from the hip, I'd guess varied study would help. Even better would be to intermix self-test--lots of data in the last few years on huge benefit to memory from self-test. (But again, the expectation is that this helps pretty much everyone, not that it helps differentially depending on your style.)
@jarrmful Id suggest checking out Dr Itiel Dror's talks on the subject of memory and cognitive learning. He says that each function of the brain has its own form of memory and therefore the more you learn, therefore reading, recording and listening would significantly enhance retention.
Similarly he also says applying the knowledge is crucial, as you then use further areas of the brain in performing that task... so use it or lose it!
i hate when people say learning styles dont excist. i have them and am in college to become a teacher. no matter how hard i try to learn like most ppeople i fail. teachers made me sitoutside the class because i was pegged as a troublemaker. i wasnt, i would cry during class because i couldnt get. not til i was taught right style did i sucessed. college was once not an option and now im going to become a jr studying special ed...to help thoose like me.
@candykane10 When you say you 'have learning styles' and consequently could not learn in the same way as most people, do you mean you have a learning disability like dyslexia? Have you had any testing for conditions like this? Further, and I am honestly not asking this to be mean: are you receiving help with your spelling? If you are going to teach it is extremely important that you can model correct spelling and punctuation.
Subjective video... Took info out of context and discussed only specific predictions... Obviously there is alway a combination of our senses involved in learning and one of the senses is prioritized... I teach many students one on one, with the goal of delivering the meaning and with the aid of emotional, visual and audio tools, etc... learning styles exist, just maybe not in the way you presented it.
How do you teach Psychology. Go back and study Psychology.
Learning styles refers to a students preferred way of grasping understanding or meaning, it is not just about memorising words. Also you have to remember that they work in conjunction with each other, no one would be completely Audio, Visual, kine.
The styles also refer to attention span and engagement and you are kidding yourself if you think that just using one style will work for everyone, you need to use all three.
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Since youtube won't allow me to post full links, use punctuations instead of spaces between the address, it's not a virus, it's an abstract of surveys done on learning styles that says that do work.
Courses don't work either - they utilize the principles of natural selection to ensure that only those who are truly devoted and natural of the subject will pass. Ergo, only those with a cognitive vector corresponding to exam/coursework criteria will pass, thusly phasing out those with alternating cognitive vectors. The same reasoning can also be applied to teaching -- we need to adapt to a new learning standard appealing to all individuals to incur educational equilibrium!
I definitely tune out if someone tries to give me oral directions, and go straight for a map. Perhaps though, it's not the fact that it's visual that appeals to my brain, but the fact that my brain can prioritize at a glance what's significant. Perhaps my brain needs to make logic of the instructions all at once, instead of taking the information as a steady feed.
I will agree that it is pointless to create learning to how individuals learn because those personal attributes vary greatly in any training platform (classroom, CBT, blended). My point is that when preparing the training to be provided, it is best to try and capture all modalities when possible. When putting a program together try to include something for everyone, not just geared one modality.
Are there some learning styles restricted to the form in which a TEXT is presented? for example, is it true that some learn better if they HEAR a text or if they READ a text? We've been talking about shapes of country and pictures of German shepherd for the visual learners, but what if we restrict the speficities of the visual learning theory to the fact that one learns better if he reads a text (visual) than if he hears a text (auditory)? Are there some studies about it?
The use of forums was associated with fast paced challenging interaction, relationships based on sharing of ideas, more open discussion and more links to the discussed themes and bigger picture."
Here is our research finding: "To a large extent, blogging and forum use correlated with specific individual learning styles and media affordances: the use of blogs was associated with the ability to create personal space for personal learning, quiet reflection and developing personal relationships with bloggers and others. Part II in another comment
I dont think it matters how we learn but as long as we do. The world would be a better place if 'teachers' took the time to teach students study skills and memory techniques in Junior school and upwards. In my time we were given lists of 100s of words and just had to do it on our own. It seems it hasnt progressed much further in the Uk anyhow.
Actually, most educators now are moving away from rote memorization altogether. The focus is on creative thinking, logic, and reasoning. We want students to be thinking and learning, not just memorizing.
@jmatchead : If teachers are "moving away from rote memorization", they should be fired. But if they're BUILDING UPON rote memorization by teaching reasoning and creativity, more power to them. I'm tired of getting 20 year-old students in my community college who were taught to "explore and be creative", but never had to memorize multiplication tables nor learn the sounds that letters represent, and consequently can't conceive of how to reduce a fraction or sound out a new word.
To me the contribution of learning styles is not in how students best learn but in how they prefer to learn. If you ask students if they are a visual or auditory learner, most of them will indicate a preferred modality (e.g., reading versus listening to lectures). Preferences are not always associated with what is best for someone (e.g., preferring junk food over healthy food), but could they predict one's motivation to learn?
@jefkahn sure, it's sometimes measured that way. . .still doesn't work.
At first, the preference idea sounds reasonable. . .but then when you think about it, who really says "I like to look at stuff." Or I like to listen to stuff." How much you like to listen or look depends very much on *what* your looking at or hearing. . .
Wrong. Again, you're over simplifying. It has nothing to do with what you like or don't like. Some people learn best by doing, some by demonstration, some by direct instruction, some by diagrams, etc. Some benefit from all of the above. Instead of "I like to look at stuff" it would be "I understand graphs better than text". Or vice versa. This doesn't mean they can't learn in any other way, mind you, just that they learn best in certain ways.
To me learning styles have less to do with memory or meaning than they do with a preferred mode for understanding something conceptually or creating meaning in the first place. Until I understand something I can neither remember it nor attach meaning to it.
@dbw8m Personally, I understand directions much better if they I can refer to a map rather than referring to a set of written directions. In turn, I understand directions better if they are provided as a set of written directions rather than if they are provided orally. Once I understand them, especially if I have travelled them, I can remember them and attach meaning to them.
@lealvo right, but the predictions of l.s. theories goes farther. It predicts that this indicates you are a visual learner, and so visual representations will generally be better for you, not just for directions, but most information. It also predicts that there are people who show the opposite pattern (auditory is better).
@jefkahn The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning addresses this issue quite thoroughly. Yes, students can be more motivated by the perception that they are learning in their supposed style. However, the actually learning is less effective because when students are learning in their "style," they put in less effort. Effort is more important than style.
Dan, thank you. I've read several of your papers. This youtube video will be great for some of my colleagues who think they are visual and/or auditory learners because they are too lazy to read.
I think you could marry the two ideas. I actually think that VAK helps develop meaning. If I have a strong 'visual' memory, visual prompts help me to build meaning. Kineasthetic learners build meaning by doing an activity. I don't think your theory and the theory of learning styles is mutually exclusive.
This seems to be a misunderstanding, or perhaps an oversimplification, of the concept of learning styles. Regardless of the results of, quite frankly, questionable tests and studies, the truth is that the manner in which information is presented matters a great deal. Now, if you are going to interpret that literally, and I might add, incorrectly, and think that the extent of the issue is whether a student sees or hears information, then of course you are going to see the results you did.
@dbw8m It has more to do with the method of understanding and nothing to do with memory storage. A visual learner doesn't memorize pictures instead of concepts, he or she uses pictures or visual aids during the actual learning process to help derive meaning. The visuals aid in the comprehension of a concept, not the memorization of it. Some students may understand what a diphthong is just from an explanation, others may need to hear it in use to understand the concept.
@dbw8m Unfortunately, I'm a teacher, not a scientist, and so my experience working with students is the only evidence I have. However, perhaps a study that more specifically tests the learning process based on different stimuli rather than simply memory would yield more relevant results. As the video says, concepts and meanings are going to be stored the same, regardless of how they are acquired or understood. Its the process of understanding that should be the focus. I'll do some research.
@jmatchead : No, you have it backward and must not have paid attention to the video. Whether one is a visual or verbal thinker does not predict ones ability to learn information that's presented a particular way. Your visual/verbal preference correlates with the actual CONTENT of what you learn best, not its style of presentation. This is simply what the evidence shows, and no amount of speculation by quasi-theorists can change this.
You may say this, but in educational instruction classes, like teacher training programs, this is not how they teach learning styles. I say again, ones learning style has to do with the process by which one learns. Your study still doesn't prove anything. Until your study accurately tests the effectiveness of different approaches to the actual learning process, not memorization, your results are meaningless.
What if some are more interested in sounds than plain text. Wouldn't singing a song about the subject spark their interest more, thus learning the subject better than if they read it from a book? This doesn't apply to all students because some would rather read about the subject than listen to a stupid song. What if Learning Styles is about presenting the subject in the way that best grabs their attention? Though one style can't be used 100% of the time, it can still be the preferred method.
MacGregorMr? You have greatly misunderstood not only what he talks about but also the conclusions. Go to his website an read something! There is no spurious assumption of what you speak. The "we" you refer to does claim that it is more than a preference and it is the people producing the studies he talks about having the same conclusion that he agrees to, that they ARE preferences only! You are actually agreeing with him and the data and showing your disagreement with the side you think you are
Same for you spentonmediocrity! You sound as though you limited yourself to this video and really don't know what you are commenting on at all! You both really look stupid here to those of us who are professionally interested in learning styles theory!
Dr. Willingham is talking about studies that were done by several groups throughout the late 70s, 80s, 90s, and some major ones in the last decade. So why would academia attempt to hang him? The comment by Embrigh sounds like that of a village idiot! Try looking beyond this video at everything provided about this subject.
What you said makes sense, your examples were well chosen, and your argument was logical. While I may be convinced, Academia must be attempting to hang you.
This video just confirms why Dr. Willingham is a superhero. As a Dir of Sped and School Psychologist , he offers research-based common sense in a field that can be very confusing when it comes to "research," as well as what constitutes "effective instruction." Disagree with this video? Become an informed consumer and read the research yourself . I have. You will find Dr. Willingham is spot on. As educators we need to listen to this voice of reason!!
you are making this a zero sum game. It is common sense that some things students will learn are necessarily more Visual or Auditory or Kinesthetic. Your spurious assumption is that we are saying students can only learn one way - instead we are saying it is a preference. When appropriate give students choice in how they access information and they are more ready to use that information in other modalities. This comes from years of anecdotal evidence at teaching adolescents.
It's important that we continue to investigate ways of helping children learn more effectively. Effective teachers intuitively reach the majority of their students but in my experience there is always a minority that will be at risk if their predominant learning style is not catered for. Often this is boys, many of whom require a more tactile/kinesthetic approach similar to that of young children. Another crucial factor is the context in which learning takes place. Is it relevent to them.
Kinda rediculous how you can just say 'this is wrong.' I know for a fact that the 'correct' method of teaching does not make me learn. Talking at me does nothing, but I can see a textual representation of being shouted at, and I learn. Pictures, too, work better. Most people I know do not learn like I do.
.Well done Daniel, I recall reading another critique by Coffield who if I recall correctly ultimately took a leaf out of John Hattie's work. The reasons why these strategies work in the class room is a) Doing so creates an enriched classroom which aids motivation b) creates a dialogue/ vocab for teachers to discuss their experiences.
Its nice to see you extend the theories (hypothesis) to making predictions which is a logical extension of any theory hypothesis.
.Well done Daniel, I recall reading anothere critique by Coffield who if I recall correctly untimately took a leaf out of John Hatties work. The reasons why these strategies work in the class room is a) Doing so creates an enriched classroom which aids motivation b) creates a dialogue/ vocab for teachers to discuss their experiences.
Its nice to see you extend the theories (hypothesis) to making predictions which is a logical extension of any theory hypothesis.
Part of the problem is that people don't know nor differentiate between the different definitions and uses of the word "theory".
If learning style means different, skills, abilities, and knowledge the people have different skills, abilities, and knowledge so there are different learning styles.
Idea = theory, therefore if the learning style idea is true than the learning style theory must be true.
I understand what you are saying but wonder if you could explain something to me I've experienced personally: I'm on the autism spectrum and as you said can process visual, auditory and kinesthetic information and prefer visual with maps, etc. But one thing I've noticed about myself is all my memories; though I process the visual and kinesthetic information are stored at least 90+% auditorily... I cannot "picture" anything except in dreams and as vague, meaningless colors/shapes...
@Pekoautika with my eyes shut. But also I cannot do things like telling which way a dorr opens, left from right etc. w/o shutting my eyes & using my auditory memory and combining it with moving in order to process direction. Is it possible that you can process all memories best in the form they are meant to be presented (music as sound & maps as pictures, etc.) but store it in only one form but reprocess it back in2 its natural form when needed?
@Pekoautika May have nothing to do with being on the autism spectrum. . .some percentage of people (around 10%, I think) report that they just don't have visual mental images. . . .
@dbw8m that's quite a high number! Is there an equivalent percentage of people who have deficiencies in the other senses, and if so would they collectively add up to a significant chunk of the human population, therefore meaning that it is not learner style but learner deficiency that educators should be focused on developing solutions for?
Without endorsing the definitions of confused people I say that Iearning styles do exist.That is to say that learning manifests ,to lesser and greater degrees of efficiency,depending on how in synch they are our respective sensibilities.
FE as some one with so called ADD(a misnomer)I can tell you that rote teaching puts literally me to sleep.Conceptual learning is my primary means with details being secondary(plays supportive role.).
Learning is represented in it's results.Results are conditioanal upon motivation.Motivation is conditional upon our innate sensibilities.Our sensibilities vary greatly individually.
FE if learning through means of a great numbers of details in a rote-like way puts me to sleep whereas open ended/loose discussion from a conceptual end(with the details woven into the bigger whole) stimulates my mind that latter will provide better results.
What does the fact that some information to learn is of a type have to do with whether there are learners who have preferred type? What does having to remember a list (short term memory) have to do with meaningful learning?
Is there a study where material is taught to a typical class in diverse presentation and mono-styled presentation and the classes' learning is compared? That would seem to be what we wish to measure. Be nice to sort out students who will learn in almost any class.
Wow... I think Prof. Willingham misses the point. Learning style theories HELP educators imagine new modalities of teaching. Instruction SHOULD be delivered in multiple formats. It's the connections between visual or auditor or kinesthetic is the strength of this theory.
Your final comment: "Teachers don't need to adjust their teaching to individual learning styles." Really? I like to lecture, so I should just talk? Is that good teaching? Please reconsider your position.
This seems like an attack on a straw man to me, in support of a clearly false thesis: that every learner will learn best from one particular kind of "good teaching", and that that "good teaching" doesn't have to vary at all between learners, or respond to differences between learners. He may have some theoretical backing for some much milder version of that claim, but the extremely simple experiment he describes is evidence for nothing in particular.
I believe your arguments against visual, kinesthetic, auditory, but I'd like to hear how you refute Kolb. That's a more detailed theory than this one.
Using your logic, if you gave a list of words and asked 100 people, how did you learn that list, you would get essentially the same answer. If you asked another 100 people how did you learn to make a youtube video, you should also get the same answer.
Also 90% of people don't think in terms of learning styles. If you went down the street and asked 100 people to define learning styles, 90% probably would say I have no idea of what you're talking about.
The list of words presented seems for a test for Memory Linking, and does not seems to be an ideal experiementation for identifying whether VAK learners learns better from their respective learning style.
We know that how information are process in our brains. Whether the individual make use of the relevant memory skills technique is another whole different issue.
I buy what you're saying, Daniel, but why is it, then, that my students comprehend and recall material better when I present it or have them practice/use it in lots of different ways - kinesthetically, auditorially, orally, in writing, etc.? Is it just a matter of repetition? Rote repetition doesn't seem as effective as varied repetition like this... I'd really love to know what you think!
are you kidding me? you just went on for 7 minutes saying people don't have different learning styles. What is a learn style? It's a style that we learn quicker and faster. and then you say "switching up things makes it more interesting, an it's more likely to hit on a way that students finds compelling" What is "COMPELLING?" hmmmm maybe it's a way a student learns FASTER and QUICKER?
@dbw8m I apologize if you feel i am "attacking you" or something along those lines. It has nothing to do with you, it's just the entire field of "psychology" that bothers me.
@dbw8m and lovemystudents I think that rote repetition doesn't work because it's boring, and boredom will switch a pupil off very quickly. If you present the same idea in lots of different ways then you can get the necessary repetition in to bed the facts down in memory or hone the skill being taught without the negative effects of boredom.
@lovemystudents It's like exercising, if you just exercise your arms at one angle, you'll get stronger at that angle. If you exercise your arm from multiple angles you get stronger in your arm in a general sense. You're making the subject exercised at all angles.
@lovemystudents I just want to point out that this video does a very good job of presenting it's information visually, and audtorially at the same time.
Mr. Willingham, or rather, who ever edited this video, obviously knows the importance of presenting information in multiple ways.
@lovemystudents I recall reading another critique by Coffield who if I recall correctly ultimately took a leaf out of John Hattie's work. The reasons why these strategies work in the class room is a) Doing so creates an enriched classroom which aids motivation b) creates a dialogue/ vocab for teachers to discuss their experiences.
@lovemystudents . It is probably not only interest you're building. I believe that the more senses you're activating the more connections and associations your building in your brain, and more connections are good for learning as well as for creating an interesting experience.
1) As cognitive psychologists will be able to tell you: it takes a long more cognitive effort to process words than pictures. The test between auditory and visual inputs is not equitable and I must add that this is NOT a test that learning styles practitioners use. If necessary, it will be the spoken word vs the visual word and it should be single syllable to maintain equity.
@ialonline sure, the example in the video is just an example. . .to really explain what a proper experiment would look like with all of the appropriate controls would take much longer than the length of the whole video.
@ialonline This theory isn't true, and the theory in the video isn't true. As the saying goes, "when you get a degree you lose your ability to think". " So if a person was blind, what pictures would they make if they have no experience of pictures?? Same goes for auditory, what if someone was deaf?" The test isn't linear?" So if a deaf person took an auditory test, and a blind person took a visual test, they'd both get 0!, seems linear to me!
Your list test is flawed. For an auditory learner you would have the list of words & meanings and then play it. For the visual learner- word, definition & a picture. My dyslexic children learn the meaning of vocab words with a visual picture & the written word which makes it stick. My kinesthetic child builds the concept or word with legos along with the written word- it is amazing how she is able to learn complex medical terms that she struggles with when left with just a pen and pencil.
how to teach concept of 'sunshine over ocean' to blind person? The problem is that our knowledge is result of processing sensory information and if concept is derived from visual sensory information it is impossible to teach it to person who hasn't this system.
Visual disability is not a matter of style, but of ability, and abilities and styles are not the same thing. (Read, for example, any of Howard Gardner's books on multiple intelligences for more on this distinction.)
How to teach concept of red to blind person? It's impossible. it's difficult to teach this concept to visually challenged person who grasps video information badly. But this would be slow.
But what if this concept of red is not important for particular topic. But what if you can structure your information with different concept or word that are encoded difrntly. So teaching styles (kinestetic, verbaly) is structuring your information the way it would be perceived the most effectively
@dbw8m Abilities and styles aren't the same thing? So if a person was blind, they could have an amazing visual learning style? Yeah, sounds good to me, be dumb as a rock but have an "AMAZING LEARNING STYLE."
This is something thats bothered me for a while and I'm glad you posted this. Ive noticed that when you talk to people about learning styles they seem to take it personally, like your attacking their religion or some other closely held belief. A good indicator that styles are a bad theory is that there are so many of them (as the beginning of your post indicated). Obviously they cant all be right.
Would it be appropriate to say that individuals have learned to learn by using some specific potentials or intelligences? Theorists consider these to be learning styles - as ways that learners found to be convinient, even without really thinking about how they learn. Fact, learners are diverse. Fact we do not teach for learning styles, but teachers ought to design a learning experience that will stimulate not only their interests, but most especially their meaning-making capability.
@inpirare No, there is actually a really important difference between "styles" and abilities. More ability (or intelligence, if you prefer) is always better. . .but "styles" is just supposed to be a preference, and one style is not better than another, over all. . . read any of Howard Gardner's books on multiple intelligences, and you'll see he makes this distinction. . .
we don't have to spend time operating solely out of our notion of learning styles; offer several mediums of the information is the best for students. if you happen to notice a student is particularly 'tuned' to a certain 'style,' go with it. the fair thing for a teacher to do is to use mm's and focus on sparking new knowledge, not on getting hung up on learning modes in teaching- that's like putting the cart in front of the horse.
except that i certainly agree with what many others have implied--- multiple modalities is the way to go, anyway. i think employing mm's is what any caring teacher would do for their students to get them to begin to understand new information. doing so will increase the likelihood of 'connecting with our individual learners' and with a whole group the same.
thank you for what you say at 4:50 on --- it's about making meaning ! ! ! i appreciate your video. i just wound up my educational psychology class this semester, so all kinds of theories are fresh in my mind, and this video is going to help me make more sense of what i already know, and to make some adjustments as well.
beautiful - I am so sick of simplified concepts, then translated them into the "modern practice". Our meanings rely on multimodality - so the more modalities we can tap into and their (potentially infinite) combinations, the better. Ania Lian (PhD
I don't really know anything about this subject but I found the video interesting. A person my have a better visual memory but you don't teach a student what an orange taste like by just looking at it. Students need all forms of input to learn regardless of what their strengths are. But as I said I don't really know anything.
I see your video as disturbing, uncaring, & cold. Seemingly negative on its whole, this looks like a vision to wipe out others' views of their existing structure of allegedly false information. Possibly you might see opportunity to clarify, but instead I see someone who simply turns out the lights with a self-reflective view that no struture is better than passionately visionary structure supporting bad theory. How about this: could you help people see better instead of presenting confusion?
Like Professor Daniel Willingham said in his response to this video, the idea was much less to detract from the attempt at new teaching structures and much more to clarify a previously dainty and ambiguous idea. Adhering to the 'learning style' of students is important but those styles should first be clearly defined in relation to the way we intake information of a specific type if we are to approach the matter with an seriousness.
In regards to your "context in reading" post, which has caught my interest, I wouldn't have been able to grasp it (the very little i did) at all if it was a teacher verbally teaching me.
This theory is not accurate but doesn't it only need adjustment?
if teachers are taught to LITERALLY split there students up in visual, audio, kinesthetic groups, then there is a problem. this still does not address any hint to a more potent way of teaching.
learning theory might be wrong to some here, but you have to wonder what is it about this theory that makes it so popular.
with our failing educational system, i think it's about time we start looking for the answers by brainstorming and imo, Learning Theory is just that.
"i think it's about time we start looking for the answers by brainstorming and imo, Learning Theory is just that."
Learning styles, by definition, cannot be considered a theory because it failed to predict results when tested. Any solution cannot be based off this broken theory. We have to come up with a better understanding on how people actually learn in order to fix the educational system.
"Any solution cannot be based off this broken theory."
It's not about a theory. It's more about what the this theory is saying. I consider this theory a tool for teachers to use but not to depend on. For example, in explaining the use of commas in sentences, a teacher can explain it as speed bumps. It's a visual that was taught to me by someone in a randomly. It actually helped me understand the function and role of a comma more than what I learned in a classroom.
i keep saying this but i don't think anyone is listening. i'm going to try one more time.
we can't get anywhere by focusing on bringing down this theory. it just needs adjusting.
i wish the experts would think about why people are interested in learning styles. it might be flawed but i do believe that the answer is connected to visual, audio, and other ways of explain the same subject.
lol sorry didn't refresh when I did that second comment.
"we can't get anywhere by focusing on bringing down this theory. it just needs adjusting."
I keep trying to say that this is not the end. When a theory does not hold up to tests then the theory must be revised, and that usually means encompassing more information from more research. I also believe that having visual and audio cues is a big help. If we want teachers to a better job then they need better tools based off better theories.
"I also believe that having visual and audio cues is a big help. If we want teachers to a better job then they need better tools based off better theories."
I agree! This video post seems negative. I just read a comment below from a teacher who states he or she is glad to see this post, and this give me a picture of an upset teacher who is going to drop the idea of reaching out to their students.
With all respect to Prof. Willingham, I hope he can understand the view of a struggling student.
The choices are not "use learning styles theory" OR "don't reach out to your students." Of course teachers want to and should reach out to their students. Learning styles theories are not theories of teaching--they are theories of how the mind works, from which one might derive teach practices. The theory of how the mind works is not supported.
"...Learning styles theories are not theories of teaching..."
Hi Professor. I understand what you are saying. It's like how rumors get started. The potential info has changed or morphed in this theory and can be applied inneffectively by teachers. That might confuse you but please bare with me.
All I'm saying is many of us here look at Learning Style Theory as hope, and it's hard to digest what you say for people who already have a problem understanding the info. It's just scary.
Hi Professor. Doesn't it depend on what you are looking for in the test? It seems to me that this theory is is being put down when it has much potential. What if the test was to measure the difference between two classes where one class there is no visual, audio, or kinesthetic examples to help students understand the meaning of what is being taught TO ALL STUDENTS IN CLASS compared to a class with no examples?
ok, well maybe i'm over reacting. that teacher just might be on the same page. i'm sure that person is. notice all the visual references i'm using? why do i do that?
i have a feeling that there are more and more students with add or adhd in our schools than ever before.
So, are we going to give up on this theory, or are we going to talk about our experiences as to why we think it has meaning or not????
Imo, there is a lot that this theory has to offer. It might not be perfect (if it was, this video would not exist) but, it's a start.
I think that's hitting on the problem naysayers and believers have-naysayers think in a linear way compared to believers who uncontrollably, and naturally, jump from one point to another.
I think people are using leraning styles and ability interchangeably. The flat simple truth is that teachers need to use multi-sensory teaching in order to reach all of their students. The best way to learn is to involve all the senses. It just makes good common sense!
jdbsiratt 1 week ago
Great, Dan! Frank Coffield et al have helped to debunk this 'VAK' nonsense here in the UK, where Learning Styles theory has been used effectively to blame teachers for low attainment in poorly-resourced institutions, shifting the blame from management, where it belongs. I have been asked to complete blank lesson plans in adult colleges which include 'V - A - K' and also 'O - T' (Olfactory / Touch) as headings, under which I am supposed to show how my English lang classes will meet these 'needs'.
garethgee 1 week ago
Does VAK theory really predict that all learners will learn everything equally well, as long as the information is presented to them in their preferred modality? No. VAK actually explains why some people learn some types of information better than other types. A visual learner will learn the shapes of countries quicker than an auditory learner. Of course both visual and auditory learners will have a much harder time learning the shapes of countries by ear.
burgercide 1 week ago in playlist Thinking, Language, and Intelligence
Is seeing pictures of specific objects really equivalent to hearing someone read the names of categories of objects? I would think that a better experiment would be to read the names to one group, and show the other group the names in writing.
burgercide 1 week ago in playlist Thinking, Language, and Intelligence
@burgercide "VAK actually explains why some people learn some types of information better than other types. A visual learner will learn the shapes of countries quicker than an auditory learner." No, that's a difference in ability, not styles. No one disputes that there are differences in ability.
dbw8m 1 week ago
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burgercide 1 week ago in playlist Thinking, Language, and Intelligence
I imagine that the more senses that are engaged in a specific task, the more one would learn the task, as more sensory input is involved, as this would on the surface seem to indicate that one is more focused on the specific task that one is engaged in.
steeldragonx 1 month ago
learning through pain and trauma, best way of forging neuron connections, lol
MrQuransunnah 1 month ago
oh yeah, if you get an electric shock everytime you are slacking, that will make your learning faster
MrQuransunnah 1 month ago
and then after that keep doing example after example, that's it
MrQuransunnah 1 month ago
what is all this? i like to think about learning from inside-out or outside-in
MrQuransunnah 1 month ago
(2/2) portrayed in experimentation than learning style. And if you really think about it, the learning that we take for granted (like "what are the shape of a German Shepard's ears?") is usually coded visually. But the bottom line is, he's right- what we want children to learn is meaning! We WANT to know facts in order to be able to think critically and creatively! You can't have creative and critical thinking without knowing the baseline facts, and learning style ignores this premise.
NerdyGirl92 1 month ago
(1/2) Jesus, too many of you people are focusing too much on something stupid (Algeria? Who cares? You weren't paying attention to the video if you noticed that it is not Algeria. Besides, Prof. Willingham might have recorded the audio before the visuals, so maybe he thought he said Chad or whatever- who cares!) He's making hypotheses based on logic and experiments. To me, this makes sense. Having transfer appropriate processing (encoding and retrieval are the same) is much more accurately...
NerdyGirl92 1 month ago
1) Thats not algeria...
2) You spend so long on the specific wording of the theory. You say "other people are better at learning auditory material than other people are." You also say "some people are especially good at learning certain types of information." Where its possible to understand a concept like a house in various ways why not just go with what your best at? (I mean someone described by one of your quotes above) Obviously learning the the shape of Chad is best learned with a map....
DefBeatTV 1 month ago
(2/3) yes, you are right in the process of METACOGNITION (term for storing memory) involves attaching meaning to information. Learning styles help the WAY that the child links meaning to information. Adapting to learning styles helps the ways that a student perceives the information. He is getting confused with learning styles and communication disorders. Testing for communication involves what the sound.failing to present the information in a style then the student wont attach meaning to it.
candykane10 2 months ago
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(1/3)The test intended of experiment is the participant (visual learner) is told the words verbally and to recall them. she may remember 6/10 words. She is then shown picture of words and recall them. she gets a 10/10. This shows that if you present the data visually she has a better retention to process and analyze the information than auditory. This test is used for students diagnosed with disabilities.
candykane10 2 months ago
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candykane10 2 months ago
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I love it when psychology begins to catch up with NLP. (Neuro-linguistic Programming as discovered and developed originally by Richard Bandler and John Grinder). This video shows just how misinterpreted the VAK model has been - especially in education circles. Other NLP references explain the other misnomers around learning styles.
CreatorCoach 2 months ago
I love it when psychology begins to catch up with NLP. (Neuro-linguistic Programming as discovered and developed originally by Richard Bandler and John Grinder). This video shows just how misinterpreted the VAK model has been - especially in educaiton circles. Other NLP references explain the other misnomers around learning styles.
CreatorCoach 2 months ago
@CreatorCoach Can you provide some references showing empirical support for NLP?
dbw8m 2 months ago 2
More suffering for creative and interpersonal children. Fact based education based on: "Get the right answer, in the shortest amount of time." kills creativity and innovation. I agree with your slice of truth and disagree with your limited perspective. You offer no alternative, good teachers, don't have to adjust? What is a good teacher? What is optimal learning? Continue teaching academic silos? Disappointment this does not meet full truth, it is not because I have a limiting belief.
williamstierle 2 months ago
@williamstierle Um, okay, glad you agree with my slice of truth. Not sure why you think my perspective is limited, based on this video. My alternative--what I suggest teachers think about from the perspective of cognitive science--is outlined in a 2009 book and in regular columns in _American Educator_
dbw8m 2 months ago
This is the most absurd video there is. And if there is any real scientific evidence against the notion that no learning style exists then they do not understand how the brain works. I'm a visual-spatial learner and learn by pictures/movies in my head. I can read text, over and over again, and not understand a thing until I visualize, what I read. This is a conscious effort that I do. I cannot hear in my head at all. Everything i hear is a picture.
Jaipaii 3 months ago
@Jaipaii Maybe you should stop LIMITING yourself with a conscious effort of visualizing and LISTEN to the meaning behind what this Professor is saying, and you'll understand that this video is far from absurd.
iluvquackers 2 months ago
Great stuff. Do you have one on the myth of "adult learning?"
CinemaKinnamon 3 months ago
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bleed756 4 months ago
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bleed756 4 months ago
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bleed756 4 months ago
My high school English teacher is going to see what our learning styles are tomorrow. What should I say regarding how they don't exist and all.
asdfqwertyfour 4 months ago
@asdfqwertyfour hmmm. . . mention this video? tell him/her i'm happy to chat via email. . .
dbw8m 4 months ago
The selected country in Africa is Chad, not Algeria!
nickpullar 4 months ago 2
and what is good teaching according to you?
pattyperra 6 months ago
Learning styles don't exist. the prof is right. The confusion some have is that they don't "get" the way sense data must be organized into concepts, but the concept must first be ignited by sense data. It is the phenomenon of the objects/motions that ignite the concept, so various senses may be involved. Once the concept is ignited it can be accessed merely by text (symbols). That a text may require mental visualization or physical model construction is normal for most and not a sign of "style".
rh001YT 7 months ago
chad not algeria!
TheNkrocks2000 7 months ago
Quick question: when learning something in a series of instances, is there any difference if you use different approaches at each instance. For instance, I'm a language learner, and I recently started to revise vocabulary by reading over it, then recording it and listening to it.
Would there be any difference if I were to spend three instances of 15 minutes reading over a list of ten words, compared to one instance of 15 minutes reading, then another listening, then another writing the words?
jarrmful 7 months ago
@jarrmful I expect that this study has been run, but I don't know of it. . .shooting from the hip, I'd guess varied study would help. Even better would be to intermix self-test--lots of data in the last few years on huge benefit to memory from self-test. (But again, the expectation is that this helps pretty much everyone, not that it helps differentially depending on your style.)
dbw8m 7 months ago
@jarrmful Id suggest checking out Dr Itiel Dror's talks on the subject of memory and cognitive learning. He says that each function of the brain has its own form of memory and therefore the more you learn, therefore reading, recording and listening would significantly enhance retention.
Similarly he also says applying the knowledge is crucial, as you then use further areas of the brain in performing that task... so use it or lose it!
jonmillymiles 3 months ago
i hate when people say learning styles dont excist. i have them and am in college to become a teacher. no matter how hard i try to learn like most ppeople i fail. teachers made me sitoutside the class because i was pegged as a troublemaker. i wasnt, i would cry during class because i couldnt get. not til i was taught right style did i sucessed. college was once not an option and now im going to become a jr studying special ed...to help thoose like me.
candykane10 7 months ago
@candykane10 When you say you 'have learning styles' and consequently could not learn in the same way as most people, do you mean you have a learning disability like dyslexia? Have you had any testing for conditions like this? Further, and I am honestly not asking this to be mean: are you receiving help with your spelling? If you are going to teach it is extremely important that you can model correct spelling and punctuation.
missdove 4 months ago
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candykane10 2 months ago
Subjective video... Took info out of context and discussed only specific predictions... Obviously there is alway a combination of our senses involved in learning and one of the senses is prioritized... I teach many students one on one, with the goal of delivering the meaning and with the aid of emotional, visual and audio tools, etc... learning styles exist, just maybe not in the way you presented it.
15Serge 7 months ago
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TheMultimediashop 8 months ago
How do you teach Psychology. Go back and study Psychology.
Learning styles refers to a students preferred way of grasping understanding or meaning, it is not just about memorising words. Also you have to remember that they work in conjunction with each other, no one would be completely Audio, Visual, kine.
The styles also refer to attention span and engagement and you are kidding yourself if you think that just using one style will work for everyone, you need to use all three.
TheMultimediashop 8 months ago
@TheMultimediashoP
A good teacher DOES use all three. That means they don't need to "teach to each student" because they are already teaching effectively.
ewittenb 7 months ago
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@TheMultimediashop
A good teacher DOES use all three. That means they don't need to "teach to each student" because they are already teaching effectively.
ewittenb 7 months ago
My visual learning style suggests that that's not Algeria on your map.
pedanticlibrarian 8 months ago 16
@pedanticlibrarian I thought it was, but I was only taking Chad's word for it.
I'm sure it was a deliberate mistake. These psychologists do things like that. They set us up for one thing while really studying another.
I'm sure we'll find out in the study debrief.
alternateroute 5 months ago
I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say here.
Some people need road names and directions to understand how to get from point A to point B, and some people get totally confused without a map.
Different modes of presentation work better for different things, for different people, and for different reasons.
netraven5000 8 months ago
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netraven5000 8 months ago
Riddle me this:
eric ed gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ385281&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ385281
Since youtube won't allow me to post full links, use punctuations instead of spaces between the address, it's not a virus, it's an abstract of surveys done on learning styles that says that do work.
falwk 8 months ago
Courses don't work either - they utilize the principles of natural selection to ensure that only those who are truly devoted and natural of the subject will pass. Ergo, only those with a cognitive vector corresponding to exam/coursework criteria will pass, thusly phasing out those with alternating cognitive vectors. The same reasoning can also be applied to teaching -- we need to adapt to a new learning standard appealing to all individuals to incur educational equilibrium!
Oneworld87 9 months ago
I definitely tune out if someone tries to give me oral directions, and go straight for a map. Perhaps though, it's not the fact that it's visual that appeals to my brain, but the fact that my brain can prioritize at a glance what's significant. Perhaps my brain needs to make logic of the instructions all at once, instead of taking the information as a steady feed.
trocader0 9 months ago
Hi, you don't seem to have embed code here so you won't allow this video to be embedded in our LMS for students to see?
opettajakorkeakoulu 9 months ago
@opettajakorkeakoulu embedding is enabled. . . if code isn't showing up, not sure why
dbw8m 9 months ago
@opettajakorkeakoulu click the share button then embed... the way you get the code has changed
TheMultimediashop 8 months ago
I will agree that it is pointless to create learning to how individuals learn because those personal attributes vary greatly in any training platform (classroom, CBT, blended). My point is that when preparing the training to be provided, it is best to try and capture all modalities when possible. When putting a program together try to include something for everyone, not just geared one modality.
MVGreels 9 months ago
Are there some learning styles restricted to the form in which a TEXT is presented? for example, is it true that some learn better if they HEAR a text or if they READ a text? We've been talking about shapes of country and pictures of German shepherd for the visual learners, but what if we restrict the speficities of the visual learning theory to the fact that one learns better if he reads a text (visual) than if he hears a text (auditory)? Are there some studies about it?
Thanks.
darkfluor 10 months ago
This guy sounds too feminine. The sound of his voice was repulsively soft. What was the video about?
TimothyJay1 10 months ago
@TimothyJay1, you are obviously an auditoty style person!! LOL...;)
pulcra01 10 months ago
Part II
The use of forums was associated with fast paced challenging interaction, relationships based on sharing of ideas, more open discussion and more links to the discussed themes and bigger picture."
Thanks.
John
suifaijohnmak 10 months ago
Hi Daniel,
Part I
Here is our research finding: "To a large extent, blogging and forum use correlated with specific individual learning styles and media affordances: the use of blogs was associated with the ability to create personal space for personal learning, quiet reflection and developing personal relationships with bloggers and others. Part II in another comment
suifaijohnmak 10 months ago
I dont think it matters how we learn but as long as we do. The world would be a better place if 'teachers' took the time to teach students study skills and memory techniques in Junior school and upwards. In my time we were given lists of 100s of words and just had to do it on our own. It seems it hasnt progressed much further in the Uk anyhow.
PurdyBear1 10 months ago
@PurdyBear1
Actually, most educators now are moving away from rote memorization altogether. The focus is on creative thinking, logic, and reasoning. We want students to be thinking and learning, not just memorizing.
jmatchead 9 months ago
@jmatchead : If teachers are "moving away from rote memorization", they should be fired. But if they're BUILDING UPON rote memorization by teaching reasoning and creativity, more power to them. I'm tired of getting 20 year-old students in my community college who were taught to "explore and be creative", but never had to memorize multiplication tables nor learn the sounds that letters represent, and consequently can't conceive of how to reduce a fraction or sound out a new word.
kangarc 9 months ago
To me the contribution of learning styles is not in how students best learn but in how they prefer to learn. If you ask students if they are a visual or auditory learner, most of them will indicate a preferred modality (e.g., reading versus listening to lectures). Preferences are not always associated with what is best for someone (e.g., preferring junk food over healthy food), but could they predict one's motivation to learn?
jefkahn 10 months ago
@jefkahn sure, it's sometimes measured that way. . .still doesn't work.
At first, the preference idea sounds reasonable. . .but then when you think about it, who really says "I like to look at stuff." Or I like to listen to stuff." How much you like to listen or look depends very much on *what* your looking at or hearing. . .
dbw8m 10 months ago
@dbw8m
Wrong. Again, you're over simplifying. It has nothing to do with what you like or don't like. Some people learn best by doing, some by demonstration, some by direct instruction, some by diagrams, etc. Some benefit from all of the above. Instead of "I like to look at stuff" it would be "I understand graphs better than text". Or vice versa. This doesn't mean they can't learn in any other way, mind you, just that they learn best in certain ways.
jmatchead 9 months ago
@dbw8m .
To me learning styles have less to do with memory or meaning than they do with a preferred mode for understanding something conceptually or creating meaning in the first place. Until I understand something I can neither remember it nor attach meaning to it.
lealvo 9 months ago
@dbw8m Personally, I understand directions much better if they I can refer to a map rather than referring to a set of written directions. In turn, I understand directions better if they are provided as a set of written directions rather than if they are provided orally. Once I understand them, especially if I have travelled them, I can remember them and attach meaning to them.
lealvo 9 months ago
@lealvo right, but the predictions of l.s. theories goes farther. It predicts that this indicates you are a visual learner, and so visual representations will generally be better for you, not just for directions, but most information. It also predicts that there are people who show the opposite pattern (auditory is better).
dbw8m 9 months ago
@jefkahn The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning addresses this issue quite thoroughly. Yes, students can be more motivated by the perception that they are learning in their supposed style. However, the actually learning is less effective because when students are learning in their "style," they put in less effort. Effort is more important than style.
elegantsolution 9 months ago
Totally agree...but at 4:23 the highlighted country is Chad, not Algeria.
Thornshadow17432 10 months ago
Normally I'd consider myself an auditory learner, but THAT IS NOT ALGERIA.
bluekeilwerth 11 months ago 11
Dan, thank you. I've read several of your papers. This youtube video will be great for some of my colleagues who think they are visual and/or auditory learners because they are too lazy to read.
mikesartin 11 months ago
why would i ever need to know the SHAPE of a country?
secretlawns 11 months ago
I think you could marry the two ideas. I actually think that VAK helps develop meaning. If I have a strong 'visual' memory, visual prompts help me to build meaning. Kineasthetic learners build meaning by doing an activity. I don't think your theory and the theory of learning styles is mutually exclusive.
lotuspm 1 year ago
Interesting concept. It appears from watching your video, that you tend to use the terms "learning" and "memory" interchangeably.
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rokinaseumini 1 year ago
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TurKdiRty 1 year ago
Learning styles definently exist. Even though there is not just 3 or 4 everyone is different.
We do all learn using all methods but some of us learn better some ways than others
The examples he gave were not fair examples they were specifically used to try prove his point.
I have scored tactile learner on many tests and I know I understand better when I try something then when I hear instructions or see it happen
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hayesobtxxpaige 1 year ago
nice discussion you have there
tableforc 1 year ago
This seems to be a misunderstanding, or perhaps an oversimplification, of the concept of learning styles. Regardless of the results of, quite frankly, questionable tests and studies, the truth is that the manner in which information is presented matters a great deal. Now, if you are going to interpret that literally, and I might add, incorrectly, and think that the extent of the issue is whether a student sees or hears information, then of course you are going to see the results you did.
jmatchead 1 year ago
@jmatchead OK, what's the non-literal, correct interpretation of the theory for which there is evidence?
dbw8m 1 year ago
@dbw8m It has more to do with the method of understanding and nothing to do with memory storage. A visual learner doesn't memorize pictures instead of concepts, he or she uses pictures or visual aids during the actual learning process to help derive meaning. The visuals aid in the comprehension of a concept, not the memorization of it. Some students may understand what a diphthong is just from an explanation, others may need to hear it in use to understand the concept.
jmatchead 1 year ago
@jmatchead . . .and the evidence?
dbw8m 1 year ago
@dbw8m Unfortunately, I'm a teacher, not a scientist, and so my experience working with students is the only evidence I have. However, perhaps a study that more specifically tests the learning process based on different stimuli rather than simply memory would yield more relevant results. As the video says, concepts and meanings are going to be stored the same, regardless of how they are acquired or understood. Its the process of understanding that should be the focus. I'll do some research.
jmatchead 1 year ago
@jmatchead : No, you have it backward and must not have paid attention to the video. Whether one is a visual or verbal thinker does not predict ones ability to learn information that's presented a particular way. Your visual/verbal preference correlates with the actual CONTENT of what you learn best, not its style of presentation. This is simply what the evidence shows, and no amount of speculation by quasi-theorists can change this.
kangarc 1 year ago
@kangarc
You may say this, but in educational instruction classes, like teacher training programs, this is not how they teach learning styles. I say again, ones learning style has to do with the process by which one learns. Your study still doesn't prove anything. Until your study accurately tests the effectiveness of different approaches to the actual learning process, not memorization, your results are meaningless.
I'm sorry, but you're wrong.
jmatchead 9 months ago
@jmatchead Gotta say, with all those big fancy words, I totally didn't get what you said... It's harder than reading programming code...
sirius890928 11 months ago
@sirius890928
Yeah, anything upwards of 3 syllables is pretty confusing, right?
jmatchead 9 months ago
@jmatchead I will totally agree with you if you are not mocking me lol
sirius890928 9 months ago
That is not Algeria, it is Chad
Hadro2008 1 year ago
What if some are more interested in sounds than plain text. Wouldn't singing a song about the subject spark their interest more, thus learning the subject better than if they read it from a book? This doesn't apply to all students because some would rather read about the subject than listen to a stupid song. What if Learning Styles is about presenting the subject in the way that best grabs their attention? Though one style can't be used 100% of the time, it can still be the preferred method.
blanknot 1 year ago
MacGregorMr? You have greatly misunderstood not only what he talks about but also the conclusions. Go to his website an read something! There is no spurious assumption of what you speak. The "we" you refer to does claim that it is more than a preference and it is the people producing the studies he talks about having the same conclusion that he agrees to, that they ARE preferences only! You are actually agreeing with him and the data and showing your disagreement with the side you think you are
Humantidote 1 year ago
Same for you spentonmediocrity! You sound as though you limited yourself to this video and really don't know what you are commenting on at all! You both really look stupid here to those of us who are professionally interested in learning styles theory!
Humantidote 1 year ago
Dr. Willingham is talking about studies that were done by several groups throughout the late 70s, 80s, 90s, and some major ones in the last decade. So why would academia attempt to hang him? The comment by Embrigh sounds like that of a village idiot! Try looking beyond this video at everything provided about this subject.
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monicagdfetre 1 year ago
HOLY SHIT.
did this person SERIOUSLY claim sights and sounds aren't classified by meaning?! oh man
noobler9 1 year ago
>.<! the person clearly never met me lol, ultra fail, don't just show slides, WORDS are visual too... /sigh
also, how about listening to the things in action
noobler9 1 year ago
What you said makes sense, your examples were well chosen, and your argument was logical. While I may be convinced, Academia must be attempting to hang you.
Embrigh 1 year ago
Very interesting and very clearly presented--2 qualities which always facilitate learning!
Michaelsuarez1005 1 year ago
This video just confirms why Dr. Willingham is a superhero. As a Dir of Sped and School Psychologist , he offers research-based common sense in a field that can be very confusing when it comes to "research," as well as what constitutes "effective instruction." Disagree with this video? Become an informed consumer and read the research yourself . I have. You will find Dr. Willingham is spot on. As educators we need to listen to this voice of reason!!
hwindram 1 year ago
you are making this a zero sum game. It is common sense that some things students will learn are necessarily more Visual or Auditory or Kinesthetic. Your spurious assumption is that we are saying students can only learn one way - instead we are saying it is a preference. When appropriate give students choice in how they access information and they are more ready to use that information in other modalities. This comes from years of anecdotal evidence at teaching adolescents.
MacGregorMr 1 year ago
It's important that we continue to investigate ways of helping children learn more effectively. Effective teachers intuitively reach the majority of their students but in my experience there is always a minority that will be at risk if their predominant learning style is not catered for. Often this is boys, many of whom require a more tactile/kinesthetic approach similar to that of young children. Another crucial factor is the context in which learning takes place. Is it relevent to them.
listenwithus 1 year ago
Kinda rediculous how you can just say 'this is wrong.' I know for a fact that the 'correct' method of teaching does not make me learn. Talking at me does nothing, but I can see a textual representation of being shouted at, and I learn. Pictures, too, work better. Most people I know do not learn like I do.
TheScurvyNinja 1 year ago
.Well done Daniel, I recall reading another critique by Coffield who if I recall correctly ultimately took a leaf out of John Hattie's work. The reasons why these strategies work in the class room is a) Doing so creates an enriched classroom which aids motivation b) creates a dialogue/ vocab for teachers to discuss their experiences.
Its nice to see you extend the theories (hypothesis) to making predictions which is a logical extension of any theory hypothesis.
soilasalle 1 year ago
.Well done Daniel, I recall reading anothere critique by Coffield who if I recall correctly untimately took a leaf out of John Hatties work. The reasons why these strategies work in the class room is a) Doing so creates an enriched classroom which aids motivation b) creates a dialogue/ vocab for teachers to discuss their experiences.
Its nice to see you extend the theories (hypothesis) to making predictions which is a logical extension of any theory hypothesis.
soilasalle 1 year ago
Part of the problem is that people don't know nor differentiate between the different definitions and uses of the word "theory".
If learning style means different, skills, abilities, and knowledge the people have different skills, abilities, and knowledge so there are different learning styles.
Idea = theory, therefore if the learning style idea is true than the learning style theory must be true.
gbleem 1 year ago
I understand what you are saying but wonder if you could explain something to me I've experienced personally: I'm on the autism spectrum and as you said can process visual, auditory and kinesthetic information and prefer visual with maps, etc. But one thing I've noticed about myself is all my memories; though I process the visual and kinesthetic information are stored at least 90+% auditorily... I cannot "picture" anything except in dreams and as vague, meaningless colors/shapes...
Pekoautika 1 year ago
@Pekoautika with my eyes shut. But also I cannot do things like telling which way a dorr opens, left from right etc. w/o shutting my eyes & using my auditory memory and combining it with moving in order to process direction. Is it possible that you can process all memories best in the form they are meant to be presented (music as sound & maps as pictures, etc.) but store it in only one form but reprocess it back in2 its natural form when needed?
Pekoautika 1 year ago
@Pekoautika May have nothing to do with being on the autism spectrum. . .some percentage of people (around 10%, I think) report that they just don't have visual mental images. . . .
dbw8m 1 year ago
@dbw8m that's quite a high number! Is there an equivalent percentage of people who have deficiencies in the other senses, and if so would they collectively add up to a significant chunk of the human population, therefore meaning that it is not learner style but learner deficiency that educators should be focused on developing solutions for?
seanankerr 1 year ago
@dbw8m
Without endorsing the definitions of confused people I say that Iearning styles do exist.That is to say that learning manifests ,to lesser and greater degrees of efficiency,depending on how in synch they are our respective sensibilities.
FE as some one with so called ADD(a misnomer)I can tell you that rote teaching puts literally me to sleep.Conceptual learning is my primary means with details being secondary(plays supportive role.).
spentonmediocrity 1 year ago
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spentonmediocrity 1 year ago
Learning is represented in it's results.Results are conditioanal upon motivation.Motivation is conditional upon our innate sensibilities.Our sensibilities vary greatly individually.
FE if learning through means of a great numbers of details in a rote-like way puts me to sleep whereas open ended/loose discussion from a conceptual end(with the details woven into the bigger whole) stimulates my mind that latter will provide better results.
In that sense learning styles exist.
spentonmediocrity 1 year ago
What does the fact that some information to learn is of a type have to do with whether there are learners who have preferred type? What does having to remember a list (short term memory) have to do with meaningful learning?
Is there a study where material is taught to a typical class in diverse presentation and mono-styled presentation and the classes' learning is compared? That would seem to be what we wish to measure. Be nice to sort out students who will learn in almost any class.
goldenoj 1 year ago
One man's confirmation bias is another's superiority bias
The statement is simple declarative attention grabbing but where is the ambition where is the vision , where is the insight.
For proof of concept ,for a fuller rebuttal , you can listen to a 10 minute presentation at minorityreports.co.uk called the Einstein gene
based on the abc broadcast
2zen08 1 year ago
Anyone who stopped listening after a minute or two probably wrote this off; I almost did. But he makes a solid case.
pyxlpainter 1 year ago
Wow... I think Prof. Willingham misses the point. Learning style theories HELP educators imagine new modalities of teaching. Instruction SHOULD be delivered in multiple formats. It's the connections between visual or auditor or kinesthetic is the strength of this theory.
Your final comment: "Teachers don't need to adjust their teaching to individual learning styles." Really? I like to lecture, so I should just talk? Is that good teaching? Please reconsider your position.
henrymptv 1 year ago
This seems like an attack on a straw man to me, in support of a clearly false thesis: that every learner will learn best from one particular kind of "good teaching", and that that "good teaching" doesn't have to vary at all between learners, or respond to differences between learners. He may have some theoretical backing for some much milder version of that claim, but the extremely simple experiment he describes is evidence for nothing in particular.
DaleInnisTube 1 year ago
I believe your arguments against visual, kinesthetic, auditory, but I'd like to hear how you refute Kolb. That's a more detailed theory than this one.
strdog 1 year ago
Using your logic, if you gave a list of words and asked 100 people, how did you learn that list, you would get essentially the same answer. If you asked another 100 people how did you learn to make a youtube video, you should also get the same answer.
Also 90% of people don't think in terms of learning styles. If you went down the street and asked 100 people to define learning styles, 90% probably would say I have no idea of what you're talking about.
Learningpaths 1 year ago
The list of words presented seems for a test for Memory Linking, and does not seems to be an ideal experiementation for identifying whether VAK learners learns better from their respective learning style.
We know that how information are process in our brains. Whether the individual make use of the relevant memory skills technique is another whole different issue.
MrTohchinseng 1 year ago
I buy what you're saying, Daniel, but why is it, then, that my students comprehend and recall material better when I present it or have them practice/use it in lots of different ways - kinesthetically, auditorially, orally, in writing, etc.? Is it just a matter of repetition? Rote repetition doesn't seem as effective as varied repetition like this... I'd really love to know what you think!
lovemystudents 1 year ago
@lovemystudents yes, switching up always makes things more interesting, and it's more likely to hit on a way that students find compelling. . .
dbw8m 1 year ago
@dbw8m
are you kidding me? you just went on for 7 minutes saying people don't have different learning styles. What is a learn style? It's a style that we learn quicker and faster. and then you say "switching up things makes it more interesting, an it's more likely to hit on a way that students finds compelling" What is "COMPELLING?" hmmmm maybe it's a way a student learns FASTER and QUICKER?
asmcriminaL 1 year ago
@dbw8m I apologize if you feel i am "attacking you" or something along those lines. It has nothing to do with you, it's just the entire field of "psychology" that bothers me.
asmcriminaL 1 year ago
@dbw8m and lovemystudents I think that rote repetition doesn't work because it's boring, and boredom will switch a pupil off very quickly. If you present the same idea in lots of different ways then you can get the necessary repetition in to bed the facts down in memory or hone the skill being taught without the negative effects of boredom.
theresaknott 1 year ago
@lovemystudents It's like exercising, if you just exercise your arms at one angle, you'll get stronger at that angle. If you exercise your arm from multiple angles you get stronger in your arm in a general sense. You're making the subject exercised at all angles.
asmcriminaL 1 year ago
@lovemystudents I just want to point out that this video does a very good job of presenting it's information visually, and audtorially at the same time.
Mr. Willingham, or rather, who ever edited this video, obviously knows the importance of presenting information in multiple ways.
kaninepete 1 year ago
@lovemystudents I recall reading another critique by Coffield who if I recall correctly ultimately took a leaf out of John Hattie's work. The reasons why these strategies work in the class room is a) Doing so creates an enriched classroom which aids motivation b) creates a dialogue/ vocab for teachers to discuss their experiences.
soilasalle 1 year ago
@lovemystudents . It is probably not only interest you're building. I believe that the more senses you're activating the more connections and associations your building in your brain, and more connections are good for learning as well as for creating an interesting experience.
awengblom 1 year ago
There are a few flaws to your argument:
1) As cognitive psychologists will be able to tell you: it takes a long more cognitive effort to process words than pictures. The test between auditory and visual inputs is not equitable and I must add that this is NOT a test that learning styles practitioners use. If necessary, it will be the spoken word vs the visual word and it should be single syllable to maintain equity.
ialonline 1 year ago
@ialonline sure, the example in the video is just an example. . .to really explain what a proper experiment would look like with all of the appropriate controls would take much longer than the length of the whole video.
dbw8m 1 year ago
@ialonline This theory isn't true, and the theory in the video isn't true. As the saying goes, "when you get a degree you lose your ability to think". " So if a person was blind, what pictures would they make if they have no experience of pictures?? Same goes for auditory, what if someone was deaf?" The test isn't linear?" So if a deaf person took an auditory test, and a blind person took a visual test, they'd both get 0!, seems linear to me!
asmcriminaL 1 year ago
Thank you for presenting a good counterpoint to the commonly accepted fashionable ideas in education. We need more discussion of this type.
72Yonatan 1 year ago
Your list test is flawed. For an auditory learner you would have the list of words & meanings and then play it. For the visual learner- word, definition & a picture. My dyslexic children learn the meaning of vocab words with a visual picture & the written word which makes it stick. My kinesthetic child builds the concept or word with legos along with the written word- it is amazing how she is able to learn complex medical terms that she struggles with when left with just a pen and pencil.
MaskoRightToLearn 1 year ago
wrong
how to teach concept of 'sunshine over ocean' to blind person? The problem is that our knowledge is result of processing sensory information and if concept is derived from visual sensory information it is impossible to teach it to person who hasn't this system.
comecra85 1 year ago
@comecra85
Visual disability is not a matter of style, but of ability, and abilities and styles are not the same thing. (Read, for example, any of Howard Gardner's books on multiple intelligences for more on this distinction.)
dbw8m 1 year ago
@dbw8m
How to teach concept of red to blind person? It's impossible. it's difficult to teach this concept to visually challenged person who grasps video information badly. But this would be slow.
But what if this concept of red is not important for particular topic. But what if you can structure your information with different concept or word that are encoded difrntly. So teaching styles (kinestetic, verbaly) is structuring your information the way it would be perceived the most effectively
comecra85 1 year ago
@dbw8m Abilities and styles aren't the same thing? So if a person was blind, they could have an amazing visual learning style? Yeah, sounds good to me, be dumb as a rock but have an "AMAZING LEARNING STYLE."
asmcriminaL 1 year ago
This is something thats bothered me for a while and I'm glad you posted this. Ive noticed that when you talk to people about learning styles they seem to take it personally, like your attacking their religion or some other closely held belief. A good indicator that styles are a bad theory is that there are so many of them (as the beginning of your post indicated). Obviously they cant all be right.
weetbixthecat 1 year ago
Would it be appropriate to say that individuals have learned to learn by using some specific potentials or intelligences? Theorists consider these to be learning styles - as ways that learners found to be convinient, even without really thinking about how they learn. Fact, learners are diverse. Fact we do not teach for learning styles, but teachers ought to design a learning experience that will stimulate not only their interests, but most especially their meaning-making capability.
inpirare 1 year ago
@inpirare No, there is actually a really important difference between "styles" and abilities. More ability (or intelligence, if you prefer) is always better. . .but "styles" is just supposed to be a preference, and one style is not better than another, over all. . . read any of Howard Gardner's books on multiple intelligences, and you'll see he makes this distinction. . .
dbw8m 1 year ago
we don't have to spend time operating solely out of our notion of learning styles; offer several mediums of the information is the best for students. if you happen to notice a student is particularly 'tuned' to a certain 'style,' go with it. the fair thing for a teacher to do is to use mm's and focus on sparking new knowledge, not on getting hung up on learning modes in teaching- that's like putting the cart in front of the horse.
linimo87 1 year ago
except that i certainly agree with what many others have implied--- multiple modalities is the way to go, anyway. i think employing mm's is what any caring teacher would do for their students to get them to begin to understand new information. doing so will increase the likelihood of 'connecting with our individual learners' and with a whole group the same.
linimo87 1 year ago
thank you for what you say at 4:50 on --- it's about making meaning ! ! ! i appreciate your video. i just wound up my educational psychology class this semester, so all kinds of theories are fresh in my mind, and this video is going to help me make more sense of what i already know, and to make some adjustments as well.
linimo87 1 year ago
hmm this video was interesting.
bobisthema 1 year ago
beautiful - I am so sick of simplified concepts, then translated them into the "modern practice". Our meanings rely on multimodality - so the more modalities we can tap into and their (potentially infinite) combinations, the better. Ania Lian (PhD
lianania 1 year ago
I don't really know anything about this subject but I found the video interesting. A person my have a better visual memory but you don't teach a student what an orange taste like by just looking at it. Students need all forms of input to learn regardless of what their strengths are. But as I said I don't really know anything.
gutenbird 1 year ago
I see your video as disturbing, uncaring, & cold. Seemingly negative on its whole, this looks like a vision to wipe out others' views of their existing structure of allegedly false information. Possibly you might see opportunity to clarify, but instead I see someone who simply turns out the lights with a self-reflective view that no struture is better than passionately visionary structure supporting bad theory. How about this: could you help people see better instead of presenting confusion?
thetimk 1 year ago
Like Professor Daniel Willingham said in his response to this video, the idea was much less to detract from the attempt at new teaching structures and much more to clarify a previously dainty and ambiguous idea. Adhering to the 'learning style' of students is important but those styles should first be clearly defined in relation to the way we intake information of a specific type if we are to approach the matter with an seriousness.
Picaresqueable 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
In regards to your "context in reading" post, which has caught my interest, I wouldn't have been able to grasp it (the very little i did) at all if it was a teacher verbally teaching me.
This theory is not accurate but doesn't it only need adjustment?
sk8bow 1 year ago
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sk8bow 1 year ago
this was a great way to let kids learn thank you!
love2learnsummercamp 1 year ago
I'm writing a paper on learning styles for college. Interesting.
richiebowen 1 year ago
if teachers are taught to LITERALLY split there students up in visual, audio, kinesthetic groups, then there is a problem. this still does not address any hint to a more potent way of teaching.
learning theory might be wrong to some here, but you have to wonder what is it about this theory that makes it so popular.
with our failing educational system, i think it's about time we start looking for the answers by brainstorming and imo, Learning Theory is just that.
sk8bow 1 year ago 2
"i think it's about time we start looking for the answers by brainstorming and imo, Learning Theory is just that."
Learning styles, by definition, cannot be considered a theory because it failed to predict results when tested. Any solution cannot be based off this broken theory. We have to come up with a better understanding on how people actually learn in order to fix the educational system.
LaughingHighWayMan 1 year ago
"Any solution cannot be based off this broken theory."
It's not about a theory. It's more about what the this theory is saying. I consider this theory a tool for teachers to use but not to depend on. For example, in explaining the use of commas in sentences, a teacher can explain it as speed bumps. It's a visual that was taught to me by someone in a randomly. It actually helped me understand the function and role of a comma more than what I learned in a classroom.
You can't measure that.
sk8bow 1 year ago
i keep saying this but i don't think anyone is listening. i'm going to try one more time.
we can't get anywhere by focusing on bringing down this theory. it just needs adjusting.
i wish the experts would think about why people are interested in learning styles. it might be flawed but i do believe that the answer is connected to visual, audio, and other ways of explain the same subject.
sk8bow 1 year ago
lol sorry didn't refresh when I did that second comment.
"we can't get anywhere by focusing on bringing down this theory. it just needs adjusting."
I keep trying to say that this is not the end. When a theory does not hold up to tests then the theory must be revised, and that usually means encompassing more information from more research. I also believe that having visual and audio cues is a big help. If we want teachers to a better job then they need better tools based off better theories.
LaughingHighWayMan 1 year ago
"I also believe that having visual and audio cues is a big help. If we want teachers to a better job then they need better tools based off better theories."
I agree! This video post seems negative. I just read a comment below from a teacher who states he or she is glad to see this post, and this give me a picture of an upset teacher who is going to drop the idea of reaching out to their students.
With all respect to Prof. Willingham, I hope he can understand the view of a struggling student.
sk8bow 1 year ago
The choices are not "use learning styles theory" OR "don't reach out to your students." Of course teachers want to and should reach out to their students. Learning styles theories are not theories of teaching--they are theories of how the mind works, from which one might derive teach practices. The theory of how the mind works is not supported.
dbw8m 1 year ago
"...Learning styles theories are not theories of teaching..."
Hi Professor. I understand what you are saying. It's like how rumors get started. The potential info has changed or morphed in this theory and can be applied inneffectively by teachers. That might confuse you but please bare with me.
All I'm saying is many of us here look at Learning Style Theory as hope, and it's hard to digest what you say for people who already have a problem understanding the info. It's just scary.
sk8bow 1 year ago
@dbw8m
Hi Professor. Doesn't it depend on what you are looking for in the test? It seems to me that this theory is is being put down when it has much potential. What if the test was to measure the difference between two classes where one class there is no visual, audio, or kinesthetic examples to help students understand the meaning of what is being taught TO ALL STUDENTS IN CLASS compared to a class with no examples?
sk8bow 1 year ago
ok, well maybe i'm over reacting. that teacher just might be on the same page. i'm sure that person is. notice all the visual references i'm using? why do i do that?
i have a feeling that there are more and more students with add or adhd in our schools than ever before.
good chatting with you.
sk8bow 1 year ago
lol I'm so slow at this.
Good chat.
LaughingHighWayMan 1 year ago
So, are we going to give up on this theory, or are we going to talk about our experiences as to why we think it has meaning or not????
Imo, there is a lot that this theory has to offer. It might not be perfect (if it was, this video would not exist) but, it's a start.
I think that's hitting on the problem naysayers and believers have-naysayers think in a linear way compared to believers who uncontrollably, and naturally, jump from one point to another.
sk8bow 1 year ago