Thank you for highlighting the open letter to The Guardian about the myth of learning styles. I’m glad to see the issue addressed and I appreciate your emphasis that arguing against the learning styles approach is not arguing against individualization.
I would like to emphasize that while each person may not have an optimal mode for learning, neither should we assume that there is an optimal mode for any given content. There are reasons to avoid monomodal or unisensory methods, when possible, in favor of multimodal learning. Multimodal learning involves the incorporation of two or more sign-systems (not necessarily, but often multisensory) which encode meaning. Especially if one supports embodied cognition, it seems logical that “multisensory-training protocols, as opposed to unisensory protocols, can better approximate natural settings and, therefore, produce greater and more efficient learning” (Shams & Seitz, 2008, p. 411).
Thankfully, there are studies which are providing evidence that multimodal learning is indeed beneficial. I would recommend the work of Heikkilä and Tiippana (2016), who studied school-aged children and concluded that “when a stimulus is presented together with its congruent counterpart from the other sensory modality during encoding, recognition memory performance is improved” (p. 1206). So we need not abandon our differentiated teaching methods, just make as many modes as possible available to everyone.
Heikkilä, J., & Tiippana, K. (2016). School-aged children can benefit from audiovisual semantic congruency during memory encoding. Experimental brain research, 234(5), 1199-1207.
Shams, L., & Seitz, A. R. (2008). Benefits of multisensory learning. Trends in cognitive sciences, 12(11), 411-417.
We and selected partners, use cookies or similar technologies as specified in the cookie policy and privacy policy.
You can consent to the use of such technologies by closing this notice.
×
Cookie Control
Customise your preferences for any tracking technology
The following allows you to customize your consent preferences for any tracking technology used
to help us achieve the features and activities described below. To learn more about how these trackers help us
and how they work, refer to the cookie policy. You may review and change your preferences at any time.
These trackers are used for activities that are strictly necessary to operate or deliver the service you requested from us and, therefore, do not require you to consent.
These trackers help us to provide a personalized user experience by improving the quality of your preference management options, and by enabling the interaction with external networks and platforms.
Recent Comments