Within Mythcraft
How Common Is Belief in Learning Styles?
High reported belief in learning styles shows how an unsupported idea can become normal in professional culture.
On this page
- What surveys measure
- Why high belief matters
- What changes after correction
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Introduction
Belief in learning styles is unusually common for an idea with weak evidence. Surveys repeatedly find that many teachers, trainee teachers and members of the public agree with the claim that students learn better when teaching is matched to a preferred style, such as visual, auditory or kinaesthetic. A 2020 systematic review of 37 studies covering 15,405 educators in 18 countries found a weighted belief rate of 89.1%, with individual studies ranging from 58% to 97.6%. [Frontiers]frontiersin.orgFrontiers How Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles NeuromythFrontiersHow Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles Neuromyth…December 14, 2020 — by PM Newton · 2020 · Cited by 207 — Self-reported…
That matters because learning styles are not merely a private opinion. Survey evidence suggests the belief has become part of professional culture: many educators report using or intending to use learning-styles approaches even though major reviews have found no adequate evidence for matching instruction to diagnosed styles. [Frontiers]frontiersin.orgFrontiers How Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles NeuromythFrontiersHow Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles Neuromyth…December 14, 2020 — by PM Newton · 2020 · Cited by 207 — Self-reported… The learning-styles case is therefore a useful example of how a misconception can become normal, practical-sounding and resistant to correction.
What Surveys Actually Measure
Most surveys do not ask whether students have preferences. Many people do prefer diagrams, discussion, reading, movement or worked examples in different situations. The stronger and more disputed claim is the “matching” or “meshing” hypothesis: that a learner classified as, for example, visual should learn better from visual teaching than from other forms, while an auditory learner should learn better from auditory teaching.
This distinction is crucial because the survey item often sounds harmless. A typical statement is close to: “Students learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning style.” Many respondents may hear this as a broad endorsement of varied teaching or personalisation, not as a strict experimental claim about matching instruction to a fixed learner type. Researchers have warned that the same term can mean different things to different teachers, which makes learning-styles belief both easy to endorse and hard to interpret precisely. [Springer]link.springer.comSpringerThe learning styles neuromyth: when the same term means…by M Papadatou-Pastou · 2021 · Cited by 138 — A series of articles hav…
Still, the overall survey picture is striking. The 2020 systematic review found high self-reported belief in matching instruction to learning styles across many countries and education settings. It also found no significant difference between qualified teachers and pre-service teachers, with weighted belief at 87.8% among qualified teachers and 95.4% among pre-service teachers. [Frontiers]frontiersin.orgFrontiers How Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles NeuromythFrontiersHow Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles Neuromyth…December 14, 2020 — by PM Newton · 2020 · Cited by 207 — Self-reported… This suggests the belief is not simply a relic among older practitioners; it can also be present among people entering the profession.
Why the Numbers Are So High
Learning styles fit several things educators understandably value: attention to individual pupils, inclusive classrooms, professional responsiveness and practical strategies. A teacher who says they use visual, auditory and kinaesthetic approaches may not be trying to apply a rigid theory. They may simply be trying to vary lessons and keep pupils engaged.
The problem is that surveys show the belief often goes beyond “use variety”. In the Wellcome Trust’s 2014 survey work on neuroscience and education, 76% of teachers surveyed reported currently using learning styles, while others had used them previously or had heard of the approach. The report also found that teachers described using the idea in varied ways, including lesson planning and attempts to reach all learners. [Wellcome]wellcome.orgHow neuroscience is affecting educationWellcomeHow neuroscience is affecting education: - WellcomeJanuary 3, 2014 — 7,8 A large majority (76 per cent) of teachers surveyed curr…
A separate 2017 study comparing educators, the general public and people with high neuroscience exposure found learning styles among the most commonly endorsed neuromyths. Endorsement was not confined to laypeople: educators also showed high belief, and neuroscience exposure reduced but did not eliminate misconceptions. [Frontiers]frontiersin.orgFrontiers How Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles NeuromythFrontiersHow Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles Neuromyth…December 14, 2020 — by PM Newton · 2020 · Cited by 207 — Self-reported…
This is why learning styles are such a strong misconception case. The belief survives not because teachers are indifferent to evidence, but because it is wrapped in an appealing professional story: good teachers adapt to learners.
Why High Belief Matters
High belief matters because it can shape time, training, classroom labels and expectations. The Education Endowment Foundation warns that learners are unlikely to have a single learning style, and that restricting pupils to activities matched to reported preferences may damage progress. It also notes that labelling pupils as a certain kind of learner can undermine the belief that success comes through effort and strategy. [EEF]educationendowmentfoundation.org.ukSource details in endnotes.
The opportunity cost is also important. A teacher who spends time identifying learning styles, grouping pupils by style or rewriting lessons around style categories is spending time that could be used on better-supported practices: retrieval practice, feedback, modelling, guided practice, vocabulary instruction, worked examples or adapting the representation to the content itself.
The evidence problem has been clear for years. Pashler and colleagues’ influential review concluded that there was no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-style assessments into general educational practice. [PubMed]pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPubMedLearning Styles: Concepts and Evidenceby H Pashler · 2008 · Cited by 5025 — Learning styles refers to the concept that individuals… Coffield and colleagues’ earlier review of post-16 learning-style models also found serious weaknesses in some widely used instruments, including reliability, validity and impact on pedagogy. [leerbeleving.nl]leerbeleving.nlLearning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learningLearning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning
Belief Does Not Always Mean the Same Classroom Practice
Survey evidence also shows a gap between belief and use. In higher education, a 2017 study of UK academics found that 58% believed in learning styles, 64.9% reported trying to accommodate them, but only 33.1% reported actually using learning styles in the previous 12 months. [PMC]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govSource details in endnotes.
That gap is useful. It suggests belief can function as a professional slogan even when classroom practice is more mixed. Some teachers may say they believe in learning styles but mainly use multiple representations, which can be sensible when matched to the subject matter rather than to fixed learner labels. For example, geometry often benefits from diagrams; pronunciation may benefit from hearing and speaking; science may benefit from demonstrations, graphs and verbal explanation together.
The risk comes when “variety” becomes “diagnosis”. Using several modes because the content demands it is different from telling a child they are a visual learner and should therefore avoid other routes into understanding.
What Changes After Correction
The most encouraging survey finding is that belief can fall after direct correction. In the 2020 systematic review, four studies included some form of training that explained the lack of evidence for matching instruction to learning styles. Across those studies, the weighted percentage endorsing the belief dropped from 78.4% before training to 37.1% afterwards. [Frontiers]frontiersin.orgFrontiers How Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles NeuromythFrontiersHow Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles Neuromyth…December 14, 2020 — by PM Newton · 2020 · Cited by 207 — Self-reported…
That does not mean a single correction solves the problem. A post-training belief rate of 37.1% is still substantial, and self-reported belief may return when teachers re-enter workplaces where learning-styles language is familiar. But the reduction matters: it shows that the myth is not immune to evidence when the correction is clear, specific and connected to practice.
The most effective correction is not “ignore individual differences”. It is more precise:
- pupils differ in prior knowledge, attention, language, confidence, motivation and support needs;
- pupils may have preferences, but preferences are not the same as proven best methods;
- teaching should fit the content, task and learner’s current understanding, not a fixed style label;
- varied explanation can be useful, but not because every pupil has a permanent sensory type.
The Misconception Is Normal, Not Trivial
Learning styles remain a powerful example of how myths spread in respectable settings. The belief is common, easy to state, commercially useful and emotionally attractive. It tells teachers they are personalising learning and tells learners that difficulty may come from a mismatch rather than from the ordinary work of building skill.
Survey evidence does not prove that every teacher uses learning styles in a harmful way. It does show something narrower and more important: a claim repeatedly criticised by evidence reviews has become highly normal in education culture. That makes learning styles a textbook case of a misconception that survives because it sounds humane, practical and scientific all at once.
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Endnotes
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Source: link.springer.com
Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10212-020-00485-2Source snippet
SpringerThe learning styles neuromyth: when the same term means...by M Papadatou-Pastou · 2021 · Cited by 138 — A series of articles hav...
-
Source: wellcome.org
Title: How neuroscience is affecting education
Link: https://wellcome.org/sites/default/files/wtp055240.pdfSource snippet
WellcomeHow neuroscience is affecting education: - WellcomeJanuary 3, 2014 — 7,8 A large majority (76 per cent) of teachers surveyed curr...
Published: January 3, 2014
-
Source: educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk
Link: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/learning-styles -
Source: leerbeleving.nl
Title: Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning
Link: https://www.leerbeleving.nl/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/learning-styles.pdf -
Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5366351/ -
Source: link.springer.com
Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-025-10002-w -
Source: youtube.com
Title: Learning Styles
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bWueJub_eUSource snippet
Research on Learning Styles...
-
Source: frontiersin.org
Title: Frontiers How Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles Neuromyth
Link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2020.602451/fullSource snippet
FrontiersHow Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles Neuromyth...December 14, 2020 — by PM Newton · 2020 · Cited by 207 — Self-reported...
Published: December 14, 2020
-
Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26162104/Source snippet
PubMedLearning Styles: Concepts and Evidenceby H Pashler · 2008 · Cited by 5025 — Learning styles refers to the concept that individuals...
-
Source: frontiersin.org
Title: Frontiers Dispelling the Myth: Training in Education or Neuroscience
Link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01314/full -
Source: frontiersin.org
Link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00429/full -
Source: frontiersin.org
Link: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01314/pdf -
Source: frontiersin.org
Link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1147498/full -
Source: structural-learning.com
Title: learning styles
Link: https://www.structural-learning.com/post/learning-styles
Additional References
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Source: youtube.com
Title: Karl Popper, Science, & Pseudoscience: Crash Course Philosophy #8
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X8Xfl0JdTQSource snippet
This overview of the learning styles myth is particularly relevant as it directly addresses why the theory persists in professional educa...
-
Source: youtube.com
Title: How Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles Neuromyth?
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtibp1Q6fiQSource snippet
Karl Popper, Science, & Pseudoscience: Crash Course Philosophy #8...
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Source: youtube.com
Title: The truth behind learning styles | Teaching English
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlFywEtLZ9wSource snippet
How Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles Neuromyth?...
-
Source: researchgate.net
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232929341_Learning_styles_and_pedagogy_in_post_16_education_a_critical_and_systematic_review -
Source: researchgate.net
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232536239_Neuromyths_in_Education_Prevalence_and_Predictors_of_Misconceptions_among_Teachers -
Source: fordhaminstitute.org
Link: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/3-reasons-most-teachers-still-believe-learning-styles-myth -
Source: researchgate.net
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342669733_The_learning_styles_neuromyth_when_the_same_term_means_different_things_to_different_teachers -
Source: academia.edu
Link: https://www.academia.edu/10608972/A_Critical_Analysis_of_Learning_Styles_and_Pedagogy_in_post_16_learning_A_systematic_and_critical_review_published_in_2004_by_Coffield_F_Moseley_D_Hall_E_and_Ecclestone_K -
Source: gdoc.pub
Link: https://gdoc.pub/doc/e/2PACX-1vSYLiQNF3XCdGSl-Axe-Da_0qaJxayn0oy4YXm4gCitzLXIMJ7FiFyAUlKcRMJi_H03WjtF8hLUAyb_ -
Source: cis.org.au
Link: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/knowledge-is-power-what-do-teachers-believe-about-learning/
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