[systemvoltage]

I kind of wish this urban myth dies. There are more common things amongst humans about learning than differences. By a long shot.

Veritasium covered this in much greater detail but still approachable by the laymen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhgwIhB58PA

It almost always shutsdown the discussion of improving or criticizing learning methods. Because, there is this deus-ex-machina of learning "Everyone is different" and therefore we must not question, we must not contest, we must not improve.

Btw, this is also rampant in other dysfunctional fields such as nutrition and product-reviews.

[my_usernam3]

> Veritasium covered this in much greater detail

Big fan of the channel, however he also has another about p hacking which I think applies to his evidence in this video. I agree that people learn the same, but desire and attention aren't discussed enough here. Sure if you force people to try each different way of learning, they won't actually have a "ideal way". However, I tend not to learn if I don't enjoy the way the material is being presented. You can't run a race if you never make it to the starting line.

[gooseus]

Veritaseum lost a lot of credibility to me when he released his Waymo-sponsored self-driving video where he conveniently acts like certain things (like his own videos on statistics and critical thinking) don't exist and other claims should be taken at face-value (94% accidents are human error).

As for this "different people learn differently", I think it'd be better to say that different modes, models, analogies are better or worse at capturing the attention of different people long enough to learn something.

[dragonwriter]

> I kind of wish this urban myth dies

The popular sensory-based learning styles thing that people are sort of innately programmed to be “visual”, “auditory”, etc. learners is a myth, that people learn better via different totalities of educational methods (material, organization, content, context, timing, structure, etc.) based on a wide variety of personal factors (physical conditions, interests, relation of intellectual to emotional development, etc.) is not.

[Bancakes]

But people do learn different. The proper way to learn is to get a bachelors in your interest, and meet professionals. Some people settle for books. Others - videos.

[kube-system]

Yes, if we are starting at the assumption that the set of people of people who engage in various learning channels are equal. Which isn’t the case. The real world doesn’t always have equal sampling.

For example, someone who doesn’t read a book, learns zero from that book.

[otterley]

You're seriously going to base your conclusion on a Jay-Leno-style "man on the street" YouTube video over the deeply-researched, peer-reviewed academic literature based on the painstaking efforts of trained education researchers?

[systemvoltage]

Did you see the references on Veritasium video description? If not, I'll list it out here:

References:

Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological science in the public interest, 9(3), 105-119. — https://ve42.co/Pashler2008

Willingham, D. T., Hughes, E. M., & Dobolyi, D. G. (2015). The scientific status of learning styles theories. Teaching of Psychology, 42(3), 266-271. — https://ve42.co/Willingham

Massa, L. J., & Mayer, R. E. (2006). Testing the ATI hypothesis: Should multimedia instruction accommodate verbalizer-visualizer cognitive style?. Learning and Individual Differences, 16(4), 321-335. — https://ve42.co/Massa2006

Riener, C., & Willingham, D. (2010). The myth of learning styles. Change: The magazine of higher learning, 42(5), 32-35.— https://ve42.co/Riener2010

Husmann, P. R., & O'Loughlin, V. D. (2019). Another nail in the coffin for learning styles? Disparities among undergraduate anatomy students’ study strategies, class performance, and reported VARK learning styles. Anatomical sciences education, 12(1), 6-19. — https://ve42.co/Husmann2019

Snider, V. E., & Roehl, R. (2007). Teachers’ beliefs about pedagogy and related issues. Psychology in the Schools, 44, 873–886. doi:10.1002/pits.20272 — https://ve42.co/Snider2007

Fleming, N., & Baume, D. (2006). Learning Styles Again: VARKing up the right tree!. Educational developments, 7(4), 4. — https://ve42.co/Fleming2006

Rogowsky, B. A., Calhoun, B. M., & Tallal, P. (2015). Matching learning style to instructional method: Effects on comprehension. Journal of educational psychology, 107(1), 64. — https://ve42.co/Rogowskyetal

Coffield, Frank; Moseley, David; Hall, Elaine; Ecclestone, Kathryn (2004). — https://ve42.co/Coffield2004

Furey, W. (2020). THE STUBBORN MYTH OF LEARNING STYLES. Education Next, 20(3), 8-13. — https://ve42.co/Furey2020

Dunn, R., Beaudry, J. S., & Klavas, A. (2002). Survey of research on learning styles. California Journal of Science Education II (2). — https://ve42.co/Dunn2002

[otterley]

Thanks for posting these! Clearly there is research pointing in the opposite direction.

[systemvoltage]

My only problem with the cliche of “Everyone does x differently” is that it fits intuition and people can relate to it - thus, it’s popularity. More often than not, it is not scientifically backed. It also robs away attention and understanding when things are truly different for one another.

[otterley]

Perhaps a more accurate statement would be "people prefer to learn things differently." Such data can easily be gathered by polling and is non-controvertible. Preference in learning methods is different from the relative effectiveness of them.

Some people like fast-food hamburgers; some like them from expensive restaurants; others like to cook them at home. But nutritionally, they're not all that different from one another.