Effective Teaching: Sensory Learning Styles versus General Memory Processes

Abstract

Tailoring teaching strategies to accommodate students' sensory learning styles (e.g., visual, auditory, kinesthetic) is widely recommended across all levels of education from kindergarten to university. However, research stretching across fi ve decades suggests that such tailoring does not enhance students' learning.In contrast, research does indicate strong learning benefi ts for methods such as integrative elaboration, distribution during learning, and frequent recall of learned material. This paper reviews evidence of learning associated with teaching focused on both sensory learning styles and general memory processes to encourage educators to adopt more evidence-based methods to enhance eff ective instruction.

Strengthen Your Teaching Skills to Enhance Student Learning

“…Having more recently treaded over to the deep end of the academic pool ourselves, we also may be more aware of the steps we had to take to gain our expertise. Therefore, we may be particularly equipped to help others take those steps rather than just “throwing our students into the deep end” without first teaching them how to swim (Arbuthnott and Krätzig, 2015).…”

“…Radical models aimed at improving classroom experiences include tailoring teaching styles to individuals’ sensory learning styles (such as visual, auditory, or kinesthetic; Romanelli et al, 2009) or “flipping the classroom,” which entails moving most or all foundational material for the course to an online venue and dedicating classroom time to student‐centered and collaborative learning activities (McLaughlin et al, 2014). However, despite their growing popularity, the evidence suggests that these methods may not be superior to other more traditional teaching models (Arbuthnott and Krätzig, 2015). Moreover, as graduate student teachers, reinventing the wheel is likely not practical (or permitted).…”

“…Clearly, different learning and teaching styles can affect students’ learning outcomes. However, Arbuthnott and Krätzig (2015) argue that general memory processes overshadow these differences in students. Therefore, they encourage teachers to focus primarily on using strategies that support knowledge integration and recall, such as adjusting instruction to accommodate students’ levels of prior knowledge and experience, using frequent assessments, and distributing instruction over longer periods of time.…”

“…Although the evidence suggests that more attention should be paid to support general memory processes than differences in learning styles (Arbuthnott and Krätzig, 2015), working to identify and understand our students’ (and our own) learning styles can prove beneficial in the classroom. Developing awareness of and sensitivity to different learning styles requires both introspection and a dedication to our students that will likely enhance our teaching skills.…”

“…A proven method used to improve students’ learning performance involves encouraging them to understand new information in the context of their previous knowledge (Arbuthnott and Krätzig, 2015). For example, when asked to recall simple sentences, university students were better able to remember the sentences when they were prompted to elaborate on the new information (Pressley et al, 1987).…”