Do your students believe in learning styles? Are some students really "visual learners" or "book learners" or "learners by doing"? Chances are, many do believe in learning styles even though research consistently shows the theory is more neuromyth than best-practice pedagogy.
The idea of learning styles has intuitive appeal because it seems to address natural individual differences and preferences between students. It is true the brain processes visual, auditory, tactile, and cognitive information differently. The learning styles theory approach tends to focus on one preferred sensory channel to the exclusion of others. But some subjects and topics require seeing, touching, manipulating, reading, etc. that may not match the student's putative learning style. For instance, try learning to ride a bike by reading a book. At worst, learning styles theory could even reinforce false beliefs students may hold about their own abilities.
Alternative approaches for addressing the differences and preferences of multiple students involve integrating information from multiple channels by, for example, combining visual and textual information in a mutually reinforcing manner. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a learning framework emphasizing flexibility and providing multiple means of representing content, engaging students, and giving feedback most suited to the content and learning outcomes.
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