Learning styles is an often-used term in higher education. However, as a pedagogical framework, learning styles is not supported by research findings and may not support the dynamic nature of learner needs.
Learning styles are often mentioned as a framework to support learner engagement by acknowledging learner variability and providing differentiated learning options. This resource outlines how holistic accessible pedagogical design which takes the dynamic sensory nature of learning into account can support students in your classroom.
Learning Styles Is Not Supported By Educational Research
Many resources have outlined how the concept of learning styles is the most prevalent myth in educational spaces. It is a myth that still is referenced because educators believe that learners would necessarily have sensory ways that they want to access information. And yes, learners do have preferences, but a preference does not make for a style. In educational research, researchers look for reproducibility. Can the same outcome be reproduced in a similar study under the same conditions? Learning styles has not been reproduced, likely because it suggests that learners will want to learn using the same modalities, each day, irrespective of topic.
Learning styles also suffers from confirmation bias in that it may be referenced so often in educational spaces that it is mistaken for truth (Marshik, 2015). As well, learning styles may impact motivation of learners in a way that may prevent learners from engaging with material because they feel it is not being presented in their self-determined style (APA, 2019).
Thus, one of the biggest pedagogical and design issues with learning styles is that it may silo a learner; students may begin to believe that they need to access information in a certain way when design that supports has been consistently supported in research (see Huang, Kim, & Christianson, 2019) and states that learning concepts will benefit from different sensory engagement opportunities, such as images or gestures.
How to Design for the Sensory in an Accessible Way
Reflect on if planned class activities assume a certain learner embodiment or preference. Here are some guiding questions that you may want to ask:
- Are learners expected to move around the classroom space to complete asks or tasks?
- Is there group work that assumes a learner’s level of vision or hearing?
- Are there options that can be put in place where the learners have choice in terms of how they engage in the activity to still achieve the same outcome?
Using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (CAST, 2024) strategies can help create more sensory inclusive assessments. CAST has provided a resource of the evidence to support Universal Design for Learning as a framework to support learning and engagement. Having multiple means of engaging with assessments is not just about how to complete an assessment, but also how the assessment guidance is provided. Here are some guiding questions that can help frame a more UDL inclusive assessment design:
- Are the assessment instructions provided in multiple modalities? For example, a textual document, a short 2-minute video overviewing steps to completing the work and timelines, an infographic.
- Are learners given a choice in the ways that they can demonstrate their learning and achievement of learning objectives? For example: essay, infographic, images, presentation, video, embodied performance.
In educational spaces, it is more important than ever to support citational justice and reference to scholarship in the way we design educational activities, assessments, and in our pedagogy. This will provide a more credible learning experience for the learner, and the ability to reference the scholarship that informs our work to our peers and colleagues. As a concept that has not been supported by research, it would be beneficial to move away from learning styles discourse towards a more accessible sensory pedagogical design informed by current scholarship.
- APA. (2019). Belief in Learning Styles Myth May Be Detrimental. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/05/learning-styles-myth
- APA. (2023). Where did the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning style typology come from?
- https://www.apa.org/pubs/highlights/spotlight/issue-277
- CAST (2024). CAST Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0. Retrieved from https://udlguidelines.cast.org
- Huang, X., Kim, N., & Christianson, K. (2019). Gesture and Vocabulary Learning in a Second Language. Language Learning, 69(1), 177–197. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12326
- 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. doi: 10.1002/ase.1777
- Manaseri, H., Sustarsic, M., Montano, R.L.T. et al. (2026). Sensory Integration in Higher Education: A Systematic Literature Review. Innovative Higher Education 51, 1385–1416. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-026-09889-2
- Marshik, T. (2015). Learning styles & the importance of critical self-reflection. TED Talks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=855Now8h5Rs [18 minute video]
- Newton, P.M., Miah, M. (2017). Evidence-Based Higher Education – Is the Learning Styles ‘Myth’ Important? Frontiers in Psychology. 8:444. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00444.
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