Neuro-Quiz
Posted: November 21st, 2012 | Author: Michael Goldstein | | 2 Comments »
From the Wall Street Journal:
Pop quiz: Which of these statements is false?
1. We use only 10% of our brain.
2. Environments rich in stimuli improve the brains of preschool children.
3. Individuals learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning style, whether auditory, visual or kinesthetic.
See here for the answer. It’s an interview of Christopher Chabris, a psych professor.
See this by Cedar Reiner for context.
See this magazine article by Reiner and Dan Willingham for more on learning styles.
There is no credible evidence that learning styles exist. While we will elaborate on this assertion, it is important to counteract the real harm that may be done by equivocating on the matter.
I don’t think these misconceptions by teachers have much practical impact on the individual level, particularly since they’re probably very vaguely defined in teacher’s heads, and conceived vaguely, they’re less wrong than when stated strictly by psychologists.
The problem/cost is when misconceptions are embraced in policy (every lesson plan must describe how it will address multiple learning styles) and in the opportunity cost of professional development that chases phantoms.
No. 3 is also false. Gardner’s so-called “learning styles” is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the ed community.
Some learners may show slightly faster acquisition of information when presented in an auditory or visual or kinesthetic modality. But the critical factor is not the learners “style” but the modality of the content. You are not going to teach Brahms’ Fugue in D Minor visually or Caravaggio’s St. John auditorily.
No. 2 is also false if the stimulit are not carefully paired with contingencies that reinforce the desired behavior.
WSJ should stay with reporting the markets.