An Educational Myth – Instruction Tailored to Students Learning Styles Leads to Success

A new study offers further evidence against the "learning styles" theory-the idea that students can process information best when teachers tailor instruction to students' strengths. The present study looked at whether self-assessment and teacher assessment agreed in the identification of preferred LS in primary school-aged pupils. Results showed that there was no correlation between the two. Findings, moreover, suggest that the teachers do not see intellectual ability as a proxy for a particular learning style. This was the first study to investigate these questions and one of the few studies within the LS literature to employ a sample of primary school students. It adds to the growing body of critical literature about the use of LS in educational settings.

Papadatou-Pastou, M., Gritzali, M., & Barrable, A. (2018) The learning styles educational neuromyth: Lack of agreement between teachers' judgments, self-assessment, and students' intelligence. Front. Educ., 3(105). http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00105

Effect of Surrounding Environment on Children’s Cognition

This study examined the influence of the surrounding environment on children’s cognition.

Key findings include: 

- They performed visuospatial cognitive tasks in two environment conditions.

- The visual surrounding environment was manipulated: high- vs. low-load environment.

- Children’s cognitive performance was reduced in the high-load visual environment.

Overall, the results suggested that the high-load visual environment affected children’s cognitive performance given that children performed better in the low-load visual environment. Understanding the impact that a visually rich surrounding environment has on children’s cognitive processes that support more complex ones is important to support recommendations on how the environment should be organized to foster better daily activities.

Rodrigues, P. F. S., & Pandeirada, J. N. S. (2018). When visual stimulation of the surrounding environment affects children’s cognitive performance. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 176, 140-149. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2018.07.014

Virtual Reality Aiding Memory

In this paper, the researchers explore whether using virtual memory palaces in a head-mounted display with head-tracking (HMD condition) would allow a user to better recall information than when using a traditional desktop display with a mouse-based interaction (desktop condition). The study found that virtual memory palaces in HMD condition provide a superior memory recall ability compared to the desktop condition. The researchers believe this is a first step in using virtual environments for creating more memorable experiences that enhance productivity through better recall of large amounts of information organized using the idea of virtual memory palaces.

Krosos, E., Plaisant, C., & Varshney, A. (2018). Virtual memory palaces: Immersion aids recall.

Virtual Reality. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007-s10055-018-0346-3