Are Learning Styles Real: 5 Best Ways To Teach College Kids

Originating in the 1980s, the concept of learning styles attempts to group students based on how they learn best. One of the most popular concepts is VARK, developed by Neil Fleming, and stands for visual, aura, read/write, and kinesthetic. But are learning styles like VARK real, and can you actually determine your learning style through a quick online questionnaire?

The back-and-forth over learning styles has carried on for years, and if you look online today you’ll still see multiple studies, reports, and articles that support both camps. Educators are also encouraged to help their students identify their individual learning styles and then tailor course materials and classroom activities accordingly.

But perhaps the question we should ask ourselves isn’t whether learning styles are a myth, but how can we best support and engage students by creating inclusive learning experiences? We’ll dive into the research behind learning styles, where they come from, and how instructors can use engagement tools like Poll Everywhere to create an impactful learning environment.

Are learning styles real?

Whether learning styles truly influence students’ academic success has been heavily debated. The concept is even present in many licensing prep materials for teachers, as pointed out in a 2020 Education Next article by William Furey, an assistant professor at Manhattan College.

Furey notes that no evidence exists that learning styles are real, and research conducted in the early 2000s further proved that there was no evidence to support the idea that students’ learning styles help them retain knowledge more effectively.

A 2009 study published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest states that few studies used the appropriate experimental methods to test whether learning styles apply in education. This research also noted that those studies that did use the appropriate methods “found results that flatly contradict the popular meshing hypothesis.” (The meshing hypothesis states that students learn best when the curriculum is provided in a format that matches their learning style.)

The concept of learning styles may even be detrimental to students’ success. A more recent study published in npj Science of Learning in 2023 found that teachers, parents, and even other children viewed visual learners as more intelligent than hands-on learners, even predicting that visual learners would earn higher grades than their hands-on learner counterparts.

But as learning takes place online more than in-person, perhaps there is some truth to the effect learning styles may have on students’ success. A study published in the February 2022 edition of Education and Information Technologies found that students’ learning styles could predict their levels of engagement and satisfaction with the use of computer simulations in physics, biology, and chemistry classes.

And Vanderbilt University reports that emerging evidence shows that instead of tailoring lessons to the students, instructors might be better off customizing their lessons to the subject matter.

Despite a possible link between learning styles and the effectiveness of online learning technology, we still lack irrefutable evidence that learning styles exist—or that they influence academic outcomes.

Connect with your remote students: Learn proven strategies for engaging your remote students before, during, and at the end of class.

Where did learning styles come from?

Ever since Alfred Binet developed the first intelligence test in 1904, humans have been fascinated with intelligence and learning. Walk into any classroom and it becomes quickly apparent that some students learn more quickly than others even when studying the same material through the same methods.

Why is that? Does the answer lay with the innate intelligence of the students or with the way teachers present materials to the class? The 1950s and 1960s saw a growing trend in lumping people into distinct groups based on personality traits through systems like Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

By the 1980s, researchers and educators had begun to wonder if students held individual “preferences” for how they learned new material. This resulted in the invention of several different learning style systems throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including popular models like Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences, VARK, and the Kolb learning style.

5 common learning style models

Learning styles come in multiple different forms and each one offers a new way to analyze the different processes through which learners supposedly absorb information. Some of the most common learning style models include the following:

1. VARK by Neil Fleming

Developed in 1992 by Neil Fleming and Colleen Mills, the VARK model is based on the idea that every student has a preferred learning style (or multiple, in some cases). These learning styles range from the following:

  • Visual
  • Aural (auditory)
  • Read/write
  • Kinesthetic

Fleming believed that students learn best when course material is presented in a format that corresponds with their preferred learning style. For example, a visual learner best understands information presented as images, graphics, maps, and other visual elements.

2. Experiential learning by David Kolb

Kolb believed learning is continuous and that as we continue to gain knowledge we strengthen personal preferences and go through a learning cycle:

  • Accommodating: A mix of active experimentation and concrete experience
  • Assimilating: A mix of reflective observation and abstract conceptualization
  • Converging: A mix of abstract conceptualization and active experimentation
  • Diverging: A mix of concrete experience and reflective observation

3. Mind Styles by Anthony Gregorc and Kathleen Butler

The Mind Styles model operates on a theory that we all perceive, process, and order information in different ways. This then informs how we learn best—or at least our preferences for how we learn.

Gregorc and Butler then sorted these learning preferences into four quadrants with associated learning characteristics:

  • Abstract random: Learners who use their imagination and prefer emotional connections
  • Abstract sequential: Learners who gather context to analyze and organize information
  • Concrete random: Learners who use creativity and intuition and prefer experimentation
  • Concrete sequential: Learners who are logical and prefer structure

4. Honey and Mumford’s Learning Stages and Styles

Further developing Kolb’s experiential learning model, Peter Honey and Alan Mumford focused on how learning styles appear in practice. They designated four different learning styles based on common experiences managers encounter at work:

  • Activist: Learn by diving straight into the details and action
  • Pragmatist: Learn by focusing on the practical use of the knowledge they acquire
  • Reflector: Learn by gathering information to come to a decision
  • Theorist: Learn by studying the theories behind a topic

5. Felder-Silverman Model

Created by Richard Felder and Linda Silverman, this model pinpoints four different dimensions that contribute to an individual’s learning style:

  • Active-reflective: How you prefer to process information
  • Sensing-intuitive: How you prefer to take in information
  • Sequential-global: How you prefer to organize information
  • Visual-verbal: How you prefer information to be presented

These dimensions are then sorted into different types of learners and learning preferences, such as Sensing learners who prefer facts and concrete thinking, or Active learners who prefer working with groups and being more hands-on.

If learning styles aren’t real, why does this matter?

Despite evidence pointing to the contrary, educators and institutions continue to use the theory to influence how they manage their classrooms. For example, Bay Atlantic University in Washington, D.C. offers the advice that educators could use as many activities and exercises as possible to support students with different learning styles.

While this may seem like logical advice if learning styles did have a significant influence over learners’ ability to understand and retain information, it misleads educators and causes them to spend valuable time and effort in the classroom figuring out each student’s learning style and then adapting their teaching methods for each student.

The wild thing is, this could all be for nothing. And even if learning styles can influence academic success in online learning environments, there remains a lack of evidence to support this. Meaning the instructor’s efforts are better spent elsewhere.

How to impact student success with engagement and inclusivity

With the lack of evidence to support them, learning styles very well could be a rabbit hole you don’t need to go down in order to provide an effective learning experience. Instead, focusing on engaging students and creating a classroom inclusive of different personalities, backgrounds, and learning disabilities is proven to be a more effective use of time and energy.

A 2023 study found that engagement has a positive impact on student grades and course completion rates as well as a lower rate of absenteeism. And inclusivity in the classroom ensures course materials and learning opportunities are available and effective for all.

Here are some ways you can take a proactive approach to engaging students and creating inclusive learning opportunities in your classroom:

  • Gamify your lessons: Game-based learning is shown to motivate students and improve retention.
  • Invite feedback: Ensure every student has a say in their classroom experience by regularly asking for feedback. Tools like Poll Everywhere allow you to quickly gather input from your class.
  • Use hands-on activities: Using tech tools like Poll Everywhere to put a spin on everyday classroom activities helps you grab students’ attention.
  • Use tech to promote inclusivity: Ensure students with learning disabilities can access course materials by providing multiple formats, such as videos, podcasts, and transcripts alongside live lectures and discussions.
  • Flip your classroom: With a flipped classroom, students watch your lectures outside of class and take part in problem-solving activities, demonstrations, and other types of interactive learning during class time.

Get more ideas for student engagement: Find out how one instructor used Poll Everywhere to upgrade their lectures with attention-grabbing activities.

Create an engaging, inclusive classroom with Poll Everywhere

If working toward higher student engagement and creating an inclusive classroom environment seems like just as much effort as tailoring course materials to learning styles, rest assured you have help. Tools like Poll Everywhere help you engage students with inclusive classroom activities—all while fitting seamlessly into your lesson plan.