Volume 5 Winter 2011 Number 2 - Charleston Law Review

CHARLESTON LAW REVIEW [Volume 5that the notion of learning styles has been, and continues to be,controversial within the research community. In fact, as noted inSection II, most independent research studies have been criticalof the concept, and no unanimity exists that educators shouldattempt to teach to students’ individual learning styles.Three key assumptions underlie the learning styles research,though not every model emphasizes the last:People differ consistently from each other in theirpreferences (e.g. emotional, environmental) for . . . waysof processing information (the “individual differences”assumption).These individual differences are measurable (the“measurement” assumption).Matching or mismatching students’ learning styles withinstructional techniques affects learning significantly (the“matching hypothesis”).26That different factors influence how any individual learns isundisputed. For example, individuals may possess differentspecific abilities, such as “verbal comprehension, word fluency,number facility, . . . and reasoning [skills].” 27 Prior learning canalso affect learning in specific contexts. 28 Beyond these learningdimensions, however, significant questions have arisen regardingwhether reliable data support the notion that individuals possessfixed styles that govern their ability to learn.That learning preferences exist is also perhaps undisputed;when asked, students will articulate preferences for variousmeans of “taking in new information and studying.” 29 Moreover,“questionnaires focusing on preferences have at least somepsychometric reliability”—individuals’ “score[s] on one daypredict[] their score[s] on another day.” 30 However, research does26. Aidan Moran, What Can Learning Styles Research Learn fromCognitive Psychology?, 11 EDUC.PSYCHOL.239, 240 (1991).27. Pashler et al., supra note 10, at 11011.28. Moran, supra note 26, at 242.29. Pashler et al., supra note 10, at 108.30. Id. But see Steven A. Stahl, Different Strokes for Different Folks? ACritique of Learning Styles, AM. EDUCATOR, Fall 1999, at 1, 4 (noting that the142