The idea that some kids pick up information better when it's presented visually, and others physically or by listening, is a myth(错误观念)that could rob children of opportunities to learn and a waste of parents' money, according to scientists.
Researchers at the University of Michigan looked at the pervasiveness of myths about so-called learning styles. They questioned what is known as psychological essentialism(本质主义): The idea that the category something fits into is determined by a biological "truth" with a genetic basis. For instance, girls liking pink, pitbulls being violent, or visual learners only remembering information when it is presented to them in a specific way.
They thought despite the theory existing for decades, there is no evidence to suggest tailoring a person's learning experience to their self-reported learning style helps them to remember information.
The researchers recruited a total of 668 U.S. adults for the study, asking them about their beliefs about learning styles. Respondents were asked to rate their agreement or disagreement with statements like "People are born with a tendency to have a certain learning style." In both surveys, over 90 percent of participants said they believed in learning styles. And around half of the people tested said they believed that we are born with learning styles; that they can easily be identified; inherited from our parents; and help to predict what a child will do in life.
Shaylene Nancekivell, a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan and study co-author, told News- week: "We should be using best practices in our classrooms and at home to teach our children. The popularity of the learning style myth and commercial products means that it is very easy to spend money and time on programs or strategies that may not be helping children learn. My biggest concern is that time is being spent teaching young children maladaptive strategies for learning. It is important that children from a very young age are taught with the best practices so they will succeed."
Asked how the study was limited, Nancekivell explained: "We need to reexamine and better understand our findings with educators. It will be important to dive deeper into educators' beliefs and reexamine our finding that educators who work with younger children are more likely to view learning styles in an essentialist light. We also need to better understand how the differing beliefs we have discovered translate into practice."
Dr. Paul A. Kirschner also commented: "The study identifies origins of the belief, and thus is possibly theoretically or philosophically significant, it stops there. The real problem is that THEY rob children of opportunities to learn by branding or classifying them as belonging to a specific group that cannot do certain things. It's also a good excuse for parents to blame teachers and schools for their children's poor study habits and for schools and teachers to blame makers of learning materials."
