Nutshell: How people learn

The idea of learning styles – that we can maximise learning by playing to a learner’s preferred style – is designed to help people learn more effectively. But does it work? And, if not, what’s the alternative?

Learning matters.

It’s how we make sense of the world and acquire the knowledge, skills and behaviours we need to grow personally and progress in our careers.

That’s perhaps why we’ve been studying how people learn at work for over a century. This has resulted in a range of theories, strategies and approaches, some of which have been discredited, disproved or otherwise died a death. Others have remained remarkably resilient, not always for the right reasons. 

Many of us, for example, will have come across the idea that one of the most effective ways to learn is through experience.

We may also have encountered the idea of learning styles. This is the idea that identifying a learner’s preferred way of learning (their style) and then tailoring learning to match that style is the sure-fire way to success.

It’s perhaps not surprising that a methodology designed to help us learn by suggesting some key, easy-to-implement strategies has proved seductive. Learning can be hard work and we need all the help we can get.

There’s also a sort of instinctive appeal in the idea that how we learn can be personalised and tailored to our own preferences or personality, our own sense of uniqueness.

But is it really that simple?

VARK

When it comes to learning styles, the VARK (visual, auditory, reading/writing, kinesthetic) Learning Styles Model, originally developed in the 1920s, with the ‘R’ added in the 1980s, has proved to be particularly popular.

It offers an entire industry of diagnostics and support that has gained wide traction globally, in schools and colleges as well as at work.

VARK is based on the simple idea that most of us prefer to learn in one of four ways.

1. If we are a visual learner, we’re likely to get the most bang for our buck out of information presented in visual form, like diagrams, charts or videos.

2. In contrast, the auditory among us learn from listening to a lecture or group discussion, as well as hearing our own contributions.

3. The reading/writing dominant learner likes words and writing.

4. And a kinesthetic learner prefers a physical experience, responding to a hands-on approach, or the ability to touch or feel an object or prop.

We may have a more or less strong preference for one or more style, or a combination of them – in this case we’d be a multimodal learner.

So, if we want to learn something, VARK suggests that we’ll learn best if the format and style of that learning matches our preferred VARK learning style.

So far, so good.

Does VARK work?

The big question is: does it work? Unfortunately, it seems that it might just be too good to be true.

Critics have suggested that labelling learners as having one style or another can actually be a hindrance to the open-mindedness we need to learn, boiling down too neatly a process much too complex to be contained by simple learning styles.

When learners label themselves, they are also in danger of cutting themselves off from a range of approaches, unnecessarily putting themselves “in a box” and closing off possible learning options. 

Even when people find that understanding their preferences is helpful – for example, preferring to watch a video than read an article – that doesn’t mean that their preferred learning method will guarantee they’ll be more successful, although it may help by making the process more enjoyable.

In a study reported in Scientific American, a team from Indiana University tracked the performance of over 400 students enrolled in an anatomy class.

They plotted performance against the students’ VARK learning styles assessments and the study strategies they deployed – ranging from flash cards and reviewing lecture notes to anatomy colouring books.

While most of the students’ VARK scores suggested they used multiple learning styles, there was no evidence that a particular style, or combination of styles, resulted in better outcomes.

It was also clear that, despite being able to identify a learning styles preference, almost two-thirds of the students then failed to choose study strategies to support that preference.

And even those students who did match their study strategies to their preferred style performed no better for having and using that knowledge.  

It’s hard not to conclude that learning styles are at best a distraction – sometimes even a barrier – when it comes to the processes and behaviours that help us to understand and retain information.

So, if the world of learning styles – or even preferences – isn’t the answer to how people learn, then what is?

Enter the brain

The answer, in short, is that nobody really knows.

But what we do know is that understanding how our brains work, how they help (or hinder) us when we want to learn something, can give a steer.

In the words of science writer, Benedict Carey: “The science of learning is…a study of the mental muscle doing the work – the living brain.”

Brain research shows us that there are a whole host of strategies we can adopt to learn better. If we want to know how we learn, we need to know how our brain works

Brain rules

In his book, Brain Rules, molecular biologist, John Medina, identifies twelve things we know about what he calls “…the most sophisticated information-transfer system on Earth.”

He explores how each brain rule can help us to perform better, whether at work or beyond.

Here is a selection that helps us to think about the relationship between our brains and learning.

Exercise boosts brain power

We’re not designed to sit at a desk for several hours a day. Our brains were “built for walking”: exercise improves mental alertness. That’s because exercise feeds the brain with increased blood flow, carrying glucose for energy and oxygen to make sure it works effectively.

Research has shown that exercisers out-perform couch potatoes in tests that measure everything from long-term memory and reasoning to attention and problem-solving.

In another study, when school age children who jogged for 30 minutes two or three times a week for 12 weeks, their cognitive performance improved. When they stopped jogging, their performance declined.

Takeaway: Try to incorporate exercise into daily routines, even at work. Exercise improves blood flow; better blood flow makes for mental alertness; better mental alertness improves our thinking skills.

We don’t pay attention to boring things

We learn better when we pay attention. The more attention the brain pays to a given stimulus, the better the information will be encoded and retained.

Unsurprisingly, things that we find boring rarely get – or keep - our attention. The things we pay most attention to are the things that stimulate an emotional response in us, that mean something. Meaning helps us to create associations and connections. That helps us to learn.

The brain processes things sequentially; we cannot pay attention to two cognitively demanding inputs at the same time. That’s why multi-tasking is a myth. Research has shown that it reduces productivity and increases mistakes.

Our brains also need regular breaks. Trying to process too much information without time to connect the dots is counter-productive.

Takeaway: We’ll have a much better chance of learning if what we’re learning is relevant or important to us – for example, if it will help us to become better leaders or overcome a challenge we’re facing.

Breaking down learning into bite-sized chunks also helps, as will giving our brains the rest they need to process and connect. We also need the time and space for study.  Try creating interruption-free zones so that our brains can focus on one thing at a time.

Remember to repeat

The process of transforming short-term memory traces to longer lasting forms is called consolidation.

Memories are fragile. Because we have no need to retain most of the inputs we receive every day, we simply discard them. But brain research suggests that, each time we recall previously consolidated memories, they become unstable again – so we need to reconsolidate them.

Consolidation, therefore, is not a one-time thing, but something that happens every time a memory is recalled, and strengthened with each recollection.

And that, for Medina, is why repetition in learning is so important: “Memory is not fixed at the moment of learning…repetition provides the fixative”.

Takeaway: Cramming doesn’t work long-term. To make learning stick, we need to incorporate new information gradually and repeat (and apply) it at timed intervals – the basis of spaced learning.  

Sleep well, think well

We all need different amounts of sleep, but whatever that is, if we fall short, our brain function is impaired – and with it our ability to learn.

When we sleep, our brains are far from inactive, replaying and consolidating our experiences of the day. If this “offline processing” is interrupted, our ability to function is compromised.

Sleep loss has been connected with everything from inattention and poor memory to a dip in logical reasoning ability and even manual dexterity.

Takeaway: We need to be aware of the optimum amount of sleep we need - and make every effort to sleep long enough for our brains to recover.

We also think about our chronotype, and plan our study around the times when we’ll be most alert and able to learn. Knowing our chronotype can help to optimise learning.

Stressed brains don’t learn the same way

We have good reason to be grateful for the way the brain’s stress response has kept us safe from everything from woolly mammoths to speeding traffic.

And we all know what that stress response feels like, with the hormone adrenaline causing our pulse to race and our blood pressure to rise as we experience its energy rush.

Most of us will be less familiar with the roles played by another hormone, cortisol, which follows on from the adrenaline to return us to normal once the immediate danger has passed.

The trouble is that the kind of stress we’re more likely to encounter today is chronic rather than short-term – a situation our body’s defence system is not built to deal with.

A reasonable level of stress can be good for brain performance. But learning is impaired if the stress is too severe or prolonged.

Research has shown that stressed people are much less capable at everything from maths and processing language; have poorer short- and long-term memories; find it difficult to concentrate and find it harder to make connections.

Takeaway: Prolonged levels of stress that make us feel overwhelmed or helpless will inhibit learning. It impacts on everything from what we learn to how and when we learn it. Understanding the effects of stress on our ability to learn, and finding ways to manage or mitigate these effects –plenty of sleep, perhaps some mindfulness – supports us to learn more effectively.

Stimulate more of the senses at the same time

Sensory integration is the idea that we absorb information about something through our senses, translate them into electronic signals, disperse these to separate parts of the brain and then reconstruct them – which allows us to perceive what that information means.

Research has shown that these sensory processes are designed to work together. For example, imagine a group of people divided into three sub-groups. The first of these gets information delivered aurally; the second visually; the third by both means. People who benefit from multisensory environments always do better, recalling and retaining the information better.

Because our senses have evolved to work together, we learn best when several senses are stimulated at the same time.

Cognitive psychologist, Richard Mayer, has identified some of the ways that this might work in practice. For example, we learn better:

• From words and pictures rather than from words alone.

• When words and pictures are presented simultaneously rather than successively.

• When words and pictures are presented near each other on a page or screen.

• When extraneous material is excluded rather than included.

• From animation plus narrative vs animation plus on-screen text.

Takeaway: Think carefully about the range of media we use to learn. Try to mix it up as much as possible to stimulate a range of senses. But also beware sensory overload, for example, words on a screen with a soundtrack of those words being spoken is unlikely to help fully able learners.

We are powerful and natural explorers

Babies provide an excellent model for how we learn, not by passive reaction to a situation but by active testing through observation, hypothesis, experimentation and conclusion. They are born with a deep, innate desire to understand the world and the curiosity to explore it.

Specific parts of the brain support this scientific approach, and research has shown that some key parts of an adult’s brain are just as malleable as a baby’s. We can continue to make new connections, strengthen existing ones and even create new neurons – all of which supports learning throughout our lives.

We just need to be open to life-long active testing. For Medina, the most important brain rule of all is curiosity.

Takeaway: As we grow, we may lose our natural sense of curiosity and wonder about the world. But that’s not because our brains close off the opportunities to continue to learn.

By consciously choosing to remain curious, we can make the most of the fact that we are – by nature – powerful and natural explorers.

In the introduction to his book, John Medina suggests that, if we wanted to create a business environment directly opposed to what the brain is good at doing, we’d end up with something like an office cubicle.

So, if we want to learn, we need to understand the ways in which we can break free of such metaphorical constraints.

Learning styles may be seductive, but nothing beats brain science when it comes to how people learn best.

Getting our brains on-side, working in tandem with what they’re good at, can only make better learners of us all.

Test your knowledge

• Outline what the ‘V’ in the learning styles acronym VARK stands for.  

• Identify what John Medina describes as the most important brain rule.

What does it mean for you?

• Reflect on which brain rules might help you to learn more effectively. Make a plan to integrate this thinking into you regular learning practice.