Learning Styles

The concept of learning styles arose in the 1970s which inferred that a learner was supposed to have a preferred method or style of learning to help them learn more effectively.

Typically, someone would say their learning style is that of a visual (pictures, video, images) learner, verbal (spoken / written) learner, physical (hands-on / doing) learner, aural (listening) learner, although other ones could include social or solitary learner, logical or analytical learner, or more. However, substantial evidence has found that having a preferred learning style does not improve the effectiveness of learning for an individual. A learner may prefer one particular approach to receiving their learning, possibly because they perceive it to be easier for them to work through the subject matter to be learnt, but this is different from effective learning.

The myth of learning styles still persists quite strongly in education, due to numerous reasons, one being that because it is a relatively simple way to explain to a learner how an educator might have customised their learning approach to apparently better meet the individual’s needs. This could then be argued to be personalised learning for an individual and enables a teacher / tutor to tick a relevant box in a required monitoring or assessment form.

Limiting a learner to one or a limited number of ways of receiving information can disadvantage a learner because they are not exposed to the richness of experience that can be gained from deploying a multitude of learning possibilities.

Allocating a learner to a particular learning style may also demotivate the learner because the approach may emphasis a monotony of learning. In addition, if an individual finds they have difficulty retaining and recalling information from memory this could contribute to them seeing themselves as failing. This can result in a negative perception of the learning process, leading to a cycle of withdrawing from engaging with their learning programme.

Having an understanding of the way the brain can be stimulated to aid learning helps a course designer to create a programme of learning to better motivate and engage a learner, improving and changing their performance and behaviour, being better able to demonstrate that learning has taken place.

The brain receives and converts messages from sensory organs, and this contributes to providing a rich multisensory learning environment, which a course designer can take advantage of: Visual (eyes), smell (nose), taste (tongue), touch (hands, feet, head, etc.), and hearing (ears), all provide information to the brain. Providing a blend of learning experiences that utilise these senses can significantly improve memory retention and recall.

Creating this multisensory blend that contributes to motivating an individual is the task of a good course designer, and that is a (or the) major challenge due to rapid and frequent changes in expectations, technology and working practices in modern society.

References (all accessed 5th October 2025):
Boser, Ulrich, Debunking the ‘Learning Style’ Neuromyth, Forbes, Dec 5, 2023,

Collins, Stella (2023), Neuroscience for Learning and Development, KoganPage, pp.91-109

Daumiller, M. & Wisniewski, B. Learning styles: Why they don’t exist but still persist?, The Inquisitive Mind, Magazine Issue 6, 2023 / Issue 47

Ellis, Elizabeth, Education is still failing students by pedalling debunked learning styles, FE News, August 14, 2023

Evan Ogg Straub, Roundup on Research: The myth of “learning styles”, M University of Michigan, March 5, 2024

HUBER, Matthias; MULLER, Claude. IS THERE A LEARNING TYPE?! REVISITING LEARNING-STYLES THEORY IN VIEW OF LEARNING AND EMOTION. European Journal of Education Studies, vol. 10, issue 3, Feb 2023

Ilya Zrudlo, Why the learning styles myth appeals and how to persuade believers otherwise, Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 132, October 2023, 104266

Touloumakos, A.K., Vlachou, E. and Papadatou-Pastou, M. (2023), “Visual Type? Not My Type”: A Systematic Study on the Learning Styles Neuromyth Employing Frequentist and Bayesian Statistics. Mind, Brain, and Education, 17: 197-208

Whitman, Gretchen. (2023). Learning Styles: Lack of Research-Based Evidence. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas. 96. 1-5

New review says ineffective ‘Learning styles’ theory persists in education around the world, Swansea University, 6 January, 2021

Learning styles: reviewing the evidence, Future Learn