The encyclopedia · R&D & Science · Strategic decision · 1992–2010s
The learning styles myth cost schools billions — and the science never supported it
The idea that students learn best in their preferred style is still taught in every teacher training program. It was debunked 20 years ago.
Neil Fleming · Dunn and Dunn · VARK model · 1992
What happened
The learning styles theory holds that students learn best when taught in their preferred modality — visual, auditory, reading/writing, or kinesthetic. The VARK model, developed by Neil Fleming in 1987, became the most popular version. By the 1990s, learning styles were taught in education schools worldwide and used in classrooms across the US, UK, and Australia.
Multiple systematic reviews have found no evidence that matching instruction to learning style improves outcomes. A 2008 review by Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, and Bjork found 'no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments into general educational practice.' A 2018 review of over 30 years of research concluded the same. The core claim — the 'meshing hypothesis' — has never been supported.
Despite the evidence, learning styles remain deeply embedded in education. Studies show that 89% of teachers believe in them. The concept is taught in training programs, sold by assessment companies, and used by schools to classify students. The cost is measured in billions of dollars spent on differentiated instruction, assessments, and training that do not improve outcomes.
Why it happened
- The theory is intuitively appealing — every student feels they have a preferred way of learning, so the idea that teaching should match that preference feels obviously right.
- The commercial ecosystem — VARK questionnaires, learning style assessments, training programs — generates revenue from the myth and has no incentive to correct it.
- Teacher training programs continue to teach learning styles because the curriculum has not been updated to reflect the research, and debunking a popular myth is harder than repeating it.
The lesson
An appealing idea that feels true and sells products is the most persistent kind of error. The learning styles myth has survived 30 years of debunking because it makes money and feels right.
Sources
- Learning styles — Wikipedia
- Newton & Salvi, Frontiers in Education (2020) — How Common Is Belief in the Learning Styles Neuromyth? A Pragmatic Systematic Review (weighted 89.1% of educators believe matching instruction works; no empirical evidence for the meshing hypothesis)
- Dekker et al., Frontiers in Psychology (2012) — prevalence of neuromyth beliefs among teachers, with learning styles among the most widely endorsed
- Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer & Bjork — Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence (Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2008; 'no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments'; abstract via Europe PMC)
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