Prevalence of Learning Styles in Educational Psychology and Introduction to Education Textbooks: A Content Analysis

Abstract

The role of learning styles in the classroom remains a heavily debated topic within education. Notable problems with using learning styles to inform classroom instruction include a lack of empirical support and potential negative effects on student learning and motivation. This content analysis focused on the presence and quantity of learning styles discussion in 20 texts commonly used in educator preparation programs (i.e., introduction to education and educational psychology texts); definitions, models, stances on usage, and recommendations for usage provided; and whether references cited in the texts were empirical studies. Eighty percent of the reviewed textbooks included a discussion of learning styles. Half of the textbooks defined learning style as a preference or approach, whereas the other half defined it as an individual style. Introduction to education texts tended toward a more positive stance on learning style usage whereas introduction to educational psychology texts exhibited a more neutral stance. A quarter of the textbooks recommended matching instructional methods to learning styles. Texts with higher numbers of both empirical and non-empirical references were more likely to describe learning styles in terms of how students prefer to gather information rather than as innate differences in information processing. Given that most textbooks did not recommend matching instructional methods to learning styles, future research should examine the source of the continued prevalence of teachers’ beliefs that student learning improves with the matching of learning styles to teaching approach.

How Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles Neuromyth, and Does It Matter? A Pragmatic Systematic Review

“…However, even if we conclude that the findings represent, in part, a lack of clarity over the specific meaning of "matching instruction to Learning Styles, " this might itself still be a cause for concern. The theory is very common in teacher training and academic literature (Newton, 2015;National Council on Teacher Quality, 2016;Wininger et al, 2019) and so we might hope that the meaning and use of it is clear to a majority of educators. An additional potential limitation is that the Howard-Jones question cites VARK as an example of Learning Styles, when there are over 70 different classifications.…”

“…The studies give us little insight into why belief in Learning Styles persists. The theory is consistently promoted in teachertraining textbooks (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2016) although there is some evidence that this is in decline (Wininger et al, 2019). If educators are themselves screened using Learning Styles instruments as students at school, then it seems reasonable that they would then enter teacher-training with a view that the use of Learning Styles is a good thing, and so the cycle of belief would be self-perpetuating.…”

“…An earlier study reported that participants incorrectly used the term "Learning Styles" interchangeably with "Universal Design for Learning, " and other strategies that take into account individual differences (differentiation) (Ruhaak and Cook, 2018). This complexity is reflected in teacher-training textbooks, which commonly refer to Learning Styles but in a variety of ways, including student motivation and preferences for learning (Wininger et al, 2019). There is also a related misunderstanding about Learning Styles theory; the absence of evidence for a matching hypothesis does not mean that students should all be taught the same way, or that they do not have preferences for how they learn.…”

Kamala V. Mukunda, What Did You Ask at School Today? A Handbook of Child Learning: Book 2

“…Multiple theories exist, which categorise learners differently for learning styles, such as verbaliser-visualiser, visual-auditory reader/writer-kinaesthetic, accommodating-divergingconverging-assimilating, etc. In general, teachers tend to believe that children's learning improves when they match children's learning styles to teaching styles, whereas educational psychology texts reject such claims due to lack of empirical evidence (Wininger et al, 2019). Mukunda is a teacher as well as an educational psychologist, and utilising her twin perspectives, she too rejects the claim.…”

Identifying learning styles and cognitive traits in a learning management system

“…Learner behavior modeling has received much attention over the last two decades ( Chrysafiadi and Virvou, 2013 ; Abyaa et al., 2019 ). Learner characteristics such as Learning styles (LS) and cognitive traits (CT) are the most prevalent topic in educational psychology texts ( Wininger et al., 2019 ). These characteristics measure learners’ psychological attitude towards learning ( Drachsler and Kirschner, 2012 ).…”