Question everything: a critical examination of faculty beliefs concerning learning strategy and learning styles

Abstract

Students make many questions and decisions in academia concerning learning. One of the most critical among them is what learning strategy to use. In this study, faculty members from various Ontario (Canada) colleges and universities were surveyed to examine their opinions on learning strategy effectiveness and on whether learning styles exist as an advantage for learners. This study compares the opinions of faculty members on learning strategy to the evaluation of learning techniques outlined by John Dunlosky’s research team (Dunlosky et al., 2013) and to the best evidence concerning learning styles as an advantage for learning (Pashler et al., 2008; Massa & Mayer, 2006). While several key factors were examined (for example, the faculty’s highest degree, employment status, number of years teaching, and institution type), the results produced mixed evidence for faculty opinions against the best evidence. As well, demographic differences among the groups of teachers were not meaningful predictors of their opinions. Even though faculty opinions were not in line with recognized evidence, learning is a complicated situation, and theories will be presented to examine the disconnect between the instructors’ opinions and the best evidence.