50 Great Myths Of Popular Psychology

Myth #18 of the 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology
• Myth 18: Students Learn Best When Teaching Styles Are Matched to Their Learning Styles

According to the Learning Styles Inventory, my dominant learning style was visual with auditory just a few points behind. Much to my surprise, the kinesthetic learning style on my inventory was much than I expected it to be. Even though my inventory reported my preferred learning style was visual, I feel like I use all three learning styles of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. I feel it necessary to use all three because I usually have to read, hear, and act to really learn something to its full extent.
Visual learning is vital to me because reading and seeing is one of the first steps I take when
Most people believe that all students can achieve at the same level if teachers were able to tailor their certain teaching styles to each individual student's learning styles. Essentially, if a teacher took the time to tailor a special curriculum for each child then every child would be equally successful (Lilienfeld, Lynn, Ruscio, & Beyerstein, 2010, p. 92). Although it could be helpful in some cases, for the most part this theory could prove rather unproductive for both teacher and student. For teachers, this task could prove somewhat impossible depending on how many students they have and for students, it could cause confusion compared to what their piers are
Surely students do not learn Spanish, algebra, and biology all the same way. Each different topic can require several different learning styles and so-called dominant styles (Lilienfeld, Lynn, Ruscio, & Beyerstein, 2010, p. 95). For example, biology may require more kinesthetic learning through experiments while Spanish may require more auditory learning because you must hear a language to pick it up fully. This is just a small reason in part students and teachers must use all tools for acquired learning. Learning styles can vary drastically just based on what students are trying to learn.
No research has been able to prove the efficiency of dominant learning styles. Research has failed to provide consistent advice and because of that commercial claims of dominant learning styles have become well known. These commercial claims should be ignored because it is vital for a student to employ all learning styles, not just one dominant style (Lilienfeld, Lynn, Ruscio, & Beyerstein, 2010, p. 96). Both students and teachers should expel the idea of focusing on just one dominant learning