Common Learning Techniques That You Should Not Use

Have you ever come across a website asking you if you are a “visual learner” or an “auditory learner”. These so-called Learning Styles are still very popular, but research shows that they are simply not relevant to performance. That is, even if someone feels more comfortable reading a book than doing a hands-on activity, using this strategy does not help them learn more.

If anything, it may make them learn less! That is because we need desirable difficulties when studying. If we only use the strategy that we find easy, we are not pushing ourselves enough and will probably create very weak memory traces that will not last for long.

As Dr Dylan Wiliam says, “If students do not have to work hard to make sense of what they are learning, then they are less likely to remember it in six weeks’ time.” Dr Dylan Wiliam