You may have heard that some people are "visual learners" and others "auditory" or "hands-on" learners, and that each learns best when taught in their own style. It is a popular idea.
In 2008 Harold Pashler and colleagues reviewed the research. To support the idea, a study would need to show that visual learners learn more from a visual lesson and auditory learners learn more from an auditory one. They found almost no studies that showed this, and several that found the opposite.
Key idea
People do have preferences. But matching lessons to a preferred "style" has not been shown to help. What helps is matching the method to the material, and combining pictures and words for everyone.
Worked example: Worked example
A teacher wants her class to learn the parts of the eye. Which plan fits the evidence?
- A: draw a labeled eye for the "visual learners" and read the parts aloud for the "auditory learners."
- B: everyone sketches and labels the eye, explains each part aloud, then redraws it from memory.
- B combines pictures, words and retrieval for all.
Answer: B.
Why it works
A map is best learned by looking, a song by listening, and a dance by moving, for everyone. The material decides.
Common mistake
Thinking this means pictures don't matter. Dual coding helps every learner, which is the point of the infographic's "picture + words."