Short answer
No – learning style does not affect learning outcomes.
Longer answer
Many people have a preferred method for learning new information – a personal learning style. Some people enjoy reading or learning through visualisation, while others prefer listening to information or learning through hands-on experience. It’s natural, then, that people believe they learn best when information is presented in the way they prefer. However, this idea has been tested.
The experiment
Researchers asked a large group of students whether they learned better by reading or by listening to new information. The students were then divided into two groups. One group received study material presented in the way they thought worked best for them, while the other group studied in a way they didn’t favour. When the test results came in, there was no difference in performance between the two groups!
Conclusion
This type of experiment has been repeated in various countries, across different educational levels, and with various teaching methods, all with the same result: learning style does not affect learning outcomes. So, even though you may prefer reading over listening, it doesn’t mean you will learn better by reading.
Brain areas
While these findings might seem surprising, they are easier to understand when we examine how learning and memory function in the brain. There are specific areas in the brain that process information from different senses (such as seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling). However, identifying where learning and memory ‘occur’ in the brain is not so simple. Information from various senses is typically combined to create long-term memories. Thus, memories are made up of connections between different brain areas.
What does matter?
You might still be wondering: if learning styles don’t work, why do we feel drawn to certain ways of learning? And if it’s not learning styles, what does influence learning outcomes? Research has uncovered several other factors that affect learning, including a student’s personal motivation, interest in the subject, and the amount of prior knowledge.
Further reading
https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3817
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311760890_Stop_propagating_the_learning_styles_myth
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270940278_Matching_Learning_Style_to_Instructional_Method_Effects_on_Comprehension
https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2020.00110