The Biggest Myth In Education

Summary

The video script explores the concept of learning styles, challenging the widely held belief in the VARK model which categorizes learners as visual, auditory, reading-writing, or kinesthetic. It presents evidence from various studies suggesting that learning styles may not significantly impact learning outcomes. Instead, the script advocates for multimodal approaches and active engagement with the material as more effective learning strategies. The video also touches on the importance of critical thinking in information search and consumption.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Learning styles are a popular concept in education, suggesting that individuals learn better when information is presented in their preferred style.
• 👀 The VARK model identifies four main learning styles: visual, auditory, reading-writing, and kinesthetic (hands-on).
• 📊 A randomized control trial is suggested to test the effectiveness of learning styles, by comparing performance when learning style matches or mismatches the educational presentation.
• 🔍 The video creator conducted an informal experiment, finding that memory strategies, rather than learning styles, improved recall.
• 📚 Rigorous studies have shown no significant difference in learning outcomes based on whether the teaching method matched the students' supposed learning styles.
• 🤔 The belief in learning styles may be due to confirmation bias, where people interpret experiences as evidence supporting their pre-existing beliefs.
• 🌐 Multimodal approaches, combining words and pictures, have been shown to be effective for learning, which is known as the multimedia effect.
• 💡 Active engagement with the material, such as problem-solving and critical thinking, is more important for learning than the presentation style.
• 🔄 The VARK model was developed to explain why some teachers are more effective than others, but it lacks empirical support for its broader applications.
• 🚫 The popularity of learning styles in education contrasts with the lack of evidence supporting their utility, which is a point of concern for educational researchers.
• 🔍 Encouraging critical thinking and searching for information that challenges pre-existing beliefs can lead to a more balanced understanding of educational theories.

Q & A

What are the four main learning styles identified by the VARK model?

The four main learning styles identified by the VARK model are visual, auditory, reading-writing, and kinesthetic.

How do visual learners prefer to learn?

Visual learners prefer to learn from images, demonstrations, and pictures.

What is the learning style of someone who learns best by listening to explanations?

Auditory learners learn best from listening to explanations.

How do reading-writing learners approach learning?

Reading-writing learners learn best from reading and writing.

What is the preferred method of learning for kinesthetic learners?

Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing, or physically interacting with the world.

What was the outcome of the unscientific experiment conducted on the street regarding learning styles?

The outcome showed that the presentation matching the preferred learning style did not seem to be the reason for better memory recall. Instead, those who employed a memory strategy, like creating a story or an order, remembered more items.

What did the study involving visualizers and verbalizers find?

The study found that students whose preferred learning style matched their instruction did not perform better on tests than those whose instruction was mismatched.

What did the 2018 study at a university in Indiana reveal about students' study strategies?

The study revealed that an overwhelming majority of students used study strategies that were supposedly incompatible with their learning style, and the minority who did match their style did not perform significantly differently on assessments.

What is the multimedia effect and how does it relate to learning?

The multimedia effect refers to the phenomenon where learning is enhanced when words and pictures are presented together, as opposed to either words or pictures alone. This supports the idea that multimodal approaches are effective for learning.

What does the video suggest about the effectiveness of learning styles in education?

The video suggests that there is no credible evidence supporting the effectiveness of learning styles in improving learning outcomes. Instead, it encourages the use of multimodal approaches and active thinking strategies.

What advice does the video give for conducting a more balanced search when looking for information?

The video advises to avoid searching for information that only confirms pre-existing beliefs. It suggests trying different searches, including terms like 'debunked' or 'false,' and using Google Search's features to assess the reliability of information sources.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Learning Styles Introduction

The video script begins by discussing the concept of learning styles, asking viewers to identify their preferred learning style. It introduces the VARK model, which categorizes learners into visual, auditory, reading-writing, and kinesthetic types. The script explores the idea that learning is more effective when information is presented in a way that aligns with an individual's learning style. It also mentions a study that suggests learning styles may not be as significant as previously thought, as students often use strategies that don't align with their supposed learning style.

05:00

🧠 Debunking Learning Styles

This paragraph delves into the skepticism surrounding the effectiveness of learning styles. It presents research findings that challenge the idea that matching teaching methods to learning styles improves learning outcomes. The script discusses a study where students' performance did not significantly differ whether the teaching method matched their preferred learning style or not. It also highlights that students often use a variety of study strategies, regardless of their identified learning style, and that the consistency of learning style preferences across different domains is not supported by evidence.

10:03

🤔 The Role of Belief in Learning Styles

The final paragraph addresses the psychological aspect of learning styles, explaining how people's pre-existing beliefs can influence their interpretation of learning experiences. It suggests that the belief in learning styles can lead to confirmation bias, where individuals only notice information that supports their belief. The script then shifts focus to the multimedia effect, which suggests that combining words and pictures can enhance learning. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of active thinking and problem-solving in the learning process, and criticizes the learning styles approach for potentially detracting from more effective teaching methods.

Keywords

💡Learning Styles

Learning styles refer to the preferred methods individuals use to process and retain information. In the video, it is discussed that there are four main learning styles: visual, auditory, reading-writing, and kinesthetic (VARK). The video challenges the effectiveness of learning styles, suggesting that there is no robust evidence to support the idea that people learn better when taught in their preferred style.

💡Visual Learners

Visual learners are those who understand and remember information best when it is presented through images, diagrams, or demonstrations. The video script includes characters who identify as visual learners, emphasizing the need to see things to learn effectively. However, the video later questions the validity of this categorization.

💡Auditory Learners

Auditory learners prefer to learn through listening to explanations or lectures. The video mentions that these learners find engagement in lectures helpful for understanding and retaining information. The script explores the idea that auditory learners may not necessarily learn better when information is presented auditorily.

💡Reading-Writing Learners

Reading-writing learners are those who learn best by reading and writing. They can absorb information effectively from textbooks or written materials. The video script includes a character who believes they can get almost anything out of reading, challenging the notion that this learning style is universally effective.

💡Kinesthetic Learners

Kinesthetic learners prefer a hands-on approach, learning best by physically interacting with the material. The video describes kinesthetic learners as needing to touch and manipulate objects to understand them. The script questions the consistency of this learning style across different learning domains.

💡VARK Model

The VARK model is a framework that categorizes learners into four types based on their preferred learning style: Visual, Auditory, Reading-Writing, and Kinesthetic. The video discusses the origins of VARK and presents research findings that challenge its effectiveness in improving learning outcomes.

💡Multimodal Approaches

Multimodal approaches to learning involve the use of multiple senses or modes of presentation, such as words and pictures together. The video suggests that this approach, known as the multimedia effect, is more effective for learning than catering to individual learning styles. This is supported by the video's anecdotal evidence and research findings.

💡Memory Strategies

Memory strategies are techniques used to improve recall and retention of information. In the video, participants who used memory strategies, such as creating a story or ordering items, were able to remember more items than those who did not employ such strategies, regardless of their learning style.

💡Educational Research

Educational research refers to the study of teaching methods, learning processes, and educational practices. The video cites various educational research studies that have found no significant evidence to support the learning styles theory, suggesting that other teaching methods may be more effective.

💡Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the process of analyzing and evaluating information to form a judgment. The video encourages viewers to think critically about the learning styles concept and to consider evidence-based teaching methods. It emphasizes the importance of questioning preconceived beliefs and seeking reliable information.

💡Google Search

Google Search is a search engine that helps users find information on the internet. The video script mentions Google Search as a tool for finding information on controversial topics like learning styles. It advises viewers to use search strategies that include terms like 'debunked' to find a balanced range of perspectives.

Highlights

Learning styles refer to the idea that individuals have a preferred way of learning, such as visual, auditory, reading-writing, or kinesthetic (VARK).

Visual learners prefer images, demonstrations, and pictures, while auditory learners learn best from listening to explanations.

Reading-writing learners excel at learning through reading and writing, and kinesthetic learners learn best by physically interacting with the world.

A survey of teachers found that over 90% believed individuals learn better when information is presented in their preferred learning style.

The VARK model was developed by Neil Fleming to explain why some teachers can reach students while others can't.

Rigorous studies have shown that students whose preferred learning style matched their instruction did not perform better than those with mismatched instruction.

A 2018 study found that most students used study strategies incompatible with their supposed learning style, and performance did not differ significantly.

Learning styles are a preference, but there is no consistent evidence that these preferences apply across all learning domains.

Review articles consistently conclude that there is no credible evidence that learning styles exist.

The multimedia effect, where words and pictures are presented together, is a proven method to enhance learning.

Active thinking, problem-solving, and imagining different outcomes are key to effective learning, rather than the presentation style.

Learning styles may actually make learning worse by causing teachers unnecessary concern and students to avoid certain types of instruction.

The best learning experiences involve multiple ways of understanding the same thing, which works for everyone, not just a subset.

Critical thinking about the sources of information is essential, and one should not only search for information that confirms pre-existing beliefs.

Google Search encourages users to think critically about information sources and to search for debunked or false information to form a balanced view.

Transcripts

- This video is about learning styles.

What kind of learner are you?

- Oh yeah, I'm a visual person

so I have to see things, yeah. - Oh yeah, same.

- I think visual learner.

- Visual.

- I mean, like, I remember formulas like auditory.

- I need to be like, interacting with the material.

- I like to learn by doing it myself.

- Very hands-on.

- Hands-on learner.

- Hands-on?

- So like, if I have a model, I'd like to look at that

and look it over.

- Part of this video was sponsored by Google Search.

There is this idea in education that everyone

has their own preferred way of learning,

their so-called learning style.

If information is presented in accordance

with the learning style, well, then they'll learn better.

Now, there are dozens of different learning style theories,

but the most common one identifies

four main learning styles, visual, auditory,

reading-writing, and kinesthetic or VARK for short.

Visual learners learn best from images,

demonstrations, and pictures.

- People may say things, but I can't really take it in.

I just gotta see 'em act it out or write it or something.

- [Derek] Auditory learners learn best

from listening to an explanation.

- Like in school, I was always engaged in the lecture

and that was usually good enough to pass a test.

- [Derek] Reading-writing learners learn best

from reading and writing.

- Like I can get pretty much anything

out of reading a textbook or something.

- [Derek] And kinesthetic learners learn best by doing.

Physically interacting with the world.

- Hands-on.

You have to touch things, you have to play with things,

you know, it's a contact sport.

You have to do it yourself.

- I want to try something with you, a little experiment.

I want to show you 10 pictures of things

and I don't want you to say anything

while you're looking at them, and at the end of the 10

you tell me how many you can remember.

- Okay.

- Okay? - Okay.

- Okay.

- Now, learning styles make intuitive sense

because we know everyone is different.

Some people have better spacial reasoning.

Others have better listening comprehension.

We know some people are better readers

while others are good with their hands.

- It's sort of very much fits with a broad strain

of thought in the recent Western tradition is,

we're all unique, we're all different.

And so you don't want to say, like,

everybody learns the same way.

That sort of conflicts with our feelings

about what it means to be human.

- So doesn't it make sense that people should learn better

in their own preferred learning style?

Well, teachers certainly seem to think so.

A survey of nearly 400 teachers from the UK

and the Netherlands found that over 90% believed

that individuals learn better when they receive information

in their preferred learning style.

- [Instructor] Just like every professor

has a different style of teaching,

you have a different style of learning.

- [Instructor] But when his teacher starts using visuals,

Johnathan finds it easier to focus

and understand the material

so he might be a visual learner.

- [Derek] Can you tell me what that means to you?

Like, what does it mean to be a visual learner?

- To me it means that for me to learn something

sometimes you need to draw it or I need to write it down

or I need to see a picture or a movie.

- For example, science classes, I get bored easily

just listening and I think it's more interesting for me

to actually be able to do it.

- [Derek] How do you know that you're a visual learner?

- I don't, I just assumed.

- To take advantage of learning styles

then teachers need to do two things.

First, identify the learning style

of each of their students.

And second, teach each student

in accordance with their learning style.

On the VARK website it says, once you know about VARK,

its power to explain things will be a revelation.

But before you take an online learning styles quiz,

it's a good idea to ask, do learning styles even exist?

I mean, do you have one?

And if you're taught in accordance with it,

would you learn better? (warm instrumental music)

Well, you could test this

by running a randomized control trial

where first you would identify learners

with at least two different learning styles,

say visual and auditory and then randomly assign learners

to one of two educational presentations,

one visual, one auditory.

So for half of the students

the experience will match their learning style

and for the other half it won't.

And then you give everyone the same test.

If the learning style hypothesis is correct,

the results should show better performance

when the presentation matches the learning style

than when they're mismatched.

I tried a very unscientific version

of this experiment on the street.

For some people, I matched their learning style

so I showed visual learners pictures of 10 items,

but for other visual learners I read out the items instead.

Bell, penguin, sun.

- Okay, I'm maxed out.

- [Derek] How many can you remember?

- I don't know.

- Hair, knife, duck, heart, butterfly.

- Apple, bicycle, guitar.

- There was a spider.

Did I say eye already?

- Trumpet, pear. - Pear.

- Butterfly. - Duck.

- Knife. - Boat.

- Heart. - Knife.

- Heart.

- I couldn't tell you the rest, that's all I got.

- [Derek] Most people could remember

only about five or six things.

- Yeah, yeah. - Six, six is not bad.

- All right.

- Six. - Six out of 10

which is not bad, right? - Oh, all right, yeah.

- That's a passing score.

Candle. - Oh.

- Candle. - Everyone forgets the candle.

But a few could remember substantially more,

say, eight or nine items.

- Bug, I don't know if I said bug.

Guitar, bike, eye, bell, spoon, sun, chair.

I'm forgetting the last two.

- That's pretty good. - Eight is really good.

- Oh, cool.

- Nine? - Nine out of 10.

- Nine, very impressive.

But the reason didn't seem to be because the presentation

matched their preferred learning style

but because they employed a memory strategy.

- So as you were showing I was making an order in my head.

So as I saw more I would just add it to the list

and I was repeating the list as I was looking at them

so I could just say it out loud.

- Did you try a strategy while you were looking

at those pictures? - Yeah, yeah.

So I guess I tried creating a story

'cause it's easier to remember a story

than just individual objects.

So I tried to tie it all into one story.

- This is all obviously anecdotal evidence,

but rigorous studies like the one I outlined

have been conducted.

For example, one looked at visualizers versus verbalizers

instead of visual versus auditory learners.

The study was computer-based,

so first students' learning styles were assessed

using questions like, would you rather read a paragraph

or see a diagram describing an atom?

The researchers also provided some challenging explanations

with two buttons, visual help or verbal help.

The visual one played a short animation

whereas the verbal help gave a written explanation.

From these measures combined, the researchers categorized

the students as either visualizers or verbalizers

and then the students were randomly assigned

to go through a text-based

or picture-based lesson on electronics.

When a student hovered their mouse over key words

in the lesson in the text-based group,

a definition and clarification came up.

But in the picture group,

an annotated diagram was shown instead.

And after the lesson, the students did a test

to assess their learning.

The students whose preferred learning style

matched their instruction performed no better on the tests

than those whose instruction was mismatched.

The researchers ran the test again

with 61 non-college-educated adults

and found exactly the same result.

But learning styles are a preference

so how strongly do learners stick to their preference?

Well, in a 2018 study during the first week of semester,

over 400 students at a university in Indiana

completed the VARK questionnaire and they were classified

according to their learning style.

Then at the end of the semester

the same students completed a study strategy questionnaire.

So how did they actually study during the term?

Well, an overwhelming majority of students

used study strategies which were supposedly incompatible

with their learning style,

and the minority of students who did

did not perform significantly differently

on the assessments in the course.

The visual auditory reading-writing, kinesthetic

or VARK model came about from Neil Fleming,

a school inspector in New Zealand.

Describing the origins of VARK he says,

I was puzzled when I observed excellent teachers

who did not reach some learners and poor teachers who did.

I decided to try to solve this puzzle.

There are, of course, many reasons for what I observed.

But one topic that seemed to hold some magic,

some explanatory power,

was preferred modes of learning, modal preferences.

And thus, VARK was born.

There was no study that revealed

students naturally cluster into four distinct groups.

Just some magic that might explain

why some teachers can reach students while others can't.

But how can this be?

If we accept that some people are more skilled

at interpreting and remembering certain kinds of stimuli

than others like visual or auditory,

then why don't we see differences in learning

or recall with different presentations?

Well, it's because what we actually want people to recall

is not the precise nature of the images

or the pitch or quality of the sound.

It's the meaning behind the presentations.

There are some tasks that obviously require the use

of a particular modality.

Learning about music, for example,

should have an auditory component.

Similarly, learning about geography

will involve looking at maps.

And some people will have greater aptitude

to learn one task over another.

Someone with perfect pitch, for example,

will be better able to recall certain tones in music.

Someone with excellent visual-spatial reasoning

will be better at learning the locations

of countries on a map.

But the claim of learning style theories

is that these preferences

will be consistent across learning domains.

The person with perfect pitch

should learn everything better auditorily

but that is clearly not the case.

Most people will learn geography better with a map.

Review articles of learning styles consistently conclude

there is no credible evidence that learning styles exist.

In a 2009 review, the researchers note, the contrast

between the enormous popularity

of the learning styles approach within education

and the lack of credible evidence for its utility is,

in our opinion, striking and disturbing.

If classification of students' learning styles

has practical utility, it remains to be demonstrated.

- What we're expecting is, if your style was honored

you're going to perform better than if

you had some experience that conflicted with your style.

And this is where we don't see any support

for the learning styles theory.

- One of the reasons many people find learning styles

so convincing is because they already believe it to be true.

For example, they might already think

that they're a visual learner, and then when a teacher

shows them a diagram of, say, a bike pump

and suddenly the concept clicks,

well, they interpret this as evidence

for their visual learning style.

- You already believe that learning styles is right.

When you have an experience the first think you think is,

is that in some way consistent with learning styles?

And if it is, you don't think further.

- When in reality that diagram might just be a great diagram

that would have helped anyone learn.

When we already believe the world to be a certain way,

then we interpret new experiences to fit with those beliefs

whether they actually do or not.

So if learning styles

don't improve learning, then what does?

Well, there's a large body of literature

that supports the claim that everyone learns better

with multimodal approaches

where words and pictures are presented together

rather than either words or pictures alone.

Now there's gonna be words as well as the picture.

We're gonna see if this is any better.

This is known as the multimedia effect,

and it explains in part, at least,

why videos can be such powerful tools for learning

when the narration complements the visuals.

Duck. - Duck.

- Heart. - Heart.

- [Derek] In my PhD research, I found explicit discussion

of misconceptions was essential

in multimedia teaching for introductory physics.

- How many is that? - Six.

- Six, okay, that's good.

- That is a whole 50% better.

Do you think that was easier?

- Yeah, yeah, 100%, 100%. - Yeah, with the words, yeah.

- Ultimately, the most important thing for learning

is not the way the information is presented

but what is happening inside the learner's head.

People learn best when they're actively thinking

about the material, solving problems

or imagining what happens if different variables change.

I talked about how and why we learn best

in my video, "The Science of Thinking" so check that out.

Now, the truth is, there are many evidence-based

teaching methods that improve learning.

Learning styles is just not one of them.

And it is likely, given the prevalence

of the learning styles misconception

that it actually makes learning worse.

I mean, learning styles give teachers unnecessary things

to worry about, and they make some students reluctant

to engage with certain types of instruction.

And all the time and money spent on learning styles

and related training could be better spent on interventions

that actually improve learning.

You are not a visual learner nor an auditory learner

nor a kinesthetic learner, or more accurately,

you are all these kinds of learner in one.

The best learning experiences are those

that involve multiple different ways

of understanding the same thing.

And best of all, this strategy works

not just for one subset of people but for everyone.

(radio tuner chirping)

This part of the video was sponsored by Google Search.

Now, there are lots of topics out there

that are controversial like learning styles, for example.

Most people believe learning styles are a thing

whereas educational researchers

find no robust evidence for them.

And if you search for learning styles,

you'll get lots of sites with resources and quizzes.

But if you search for learning styles debunked,

well, then you'll find articles

about how there is very little evidence

for the learning styles hypothesis.

I think one of the most common traps people fall into

is only searching for information

that confirms what they already believe.

A common mistake is putting the answer you're looking for

right in the search query.

A better idea is to try another search,

adding debunked or false at the end and see what comes up.

And Google makes it easy to get more detail

about the source of the information.

Just click the three dots next to any search result

and then you can judge for yourself

whether the information is trustworthy

and if you want to visit the site.

A Google Search is meant to surface

the most relevant information for your query.

But it's up to you to formulate that query,

try a few different searches,

and assess whether the information is reliable.

And the whole point of Veritasium is to get to the truth.

So I'm excited to encourage everyone

to think more critically about how we get information.

I want to thank Google for sponsoring this part of the video

and I want to thank you for watching.