A recent review of the scientific literature on learning styles found scant evidence to clearly support the idea that outcomes are best when instructional techniques align with individuals’ learning styles. In fact, there are several studies that contradict this belief. It is clear that people have a strong sense of their own learning preferences, but it is less clear that these preferences matter.

最近一篇关于学习方式的科学文献的评论发现，几乎没有证据明确支持这样一种观点: 当教学技巧与个人的学习方式相一致时，能取得最佳学习效果。事实上，有几项研究反驳了这种观点。很明显，人们对自己的学习偏好有强烈的感觉，但不太清楚这些偏好是否重要。

Perhaps a match between students’ individual learning styles and their study strategies is the key to optimal outcomes. To explore this possibility, Hussman and O’Loughlin asked students enrolled in an anatomy class to complete an online learning styles assessment named VARK and answer questions about their study strategies.

也许学生的个人学习方式和他们的学习策略之间的匹配是达到最佳结果的关键。为了探索这一可能性，Hussman和O 'Loughlin请解剖学课上的学生完成一项被称作VARK的在线学习方式评估，并回答关于他们学习策略的问题。

Scores on the VARK suggested that most students used multiple learning styles, but that no particular style (or combination of styles) resulted in better outcomes than another. The focus in this study, however, was not on whether a particular learning style was more advantageous. Instead, the research addressed a primary question: Do students who take the VARK questionnaire to identify their personal learning style adopt study strategies that align with that style?

VARK分数表明，大多数学生采用多种学习方式，但没有一种特定的学习方式(或多种学习方式的结合)比其他学习方式有更好的效果。然而，这项研究的重点并不是为了探究哪种学习方式更有利。相反，这项研究解决了一个主要问题: 那些通过VARK问卷来确定个人学习方式的学生是否采用了符合这种方式的学习策略?

In effect, most students are not employing study strategies that mesh with self-reported learning preferences. Although students believe that learning preferences influence performance, this research affirms the mounting evidence that they do not, even when students are mastering information on their own. These findings suggest a general lack of student awareness, which may bring about the issue that impacts students' decision, about the processes and behaviors that support effective learning. Consistent with this notion, Hussman and O’Loughlin also found negative correlations between many of the common study strategies reported by students and course performance. Thus regardless of individual learning style or the alignment of the style with study techniques, many students are adopting strategies that simply do not support comprehension and retention of information.

事实上，大多数学生没有采用符合自己学习偏好的学习策略。尽管学生们相信学习偏好会影响他们的表现，但这项研究明确了越来越多的证据表明他们没有这样做，即使学生掌握了自己的信息。这些发现表明，学生普遍缺乏支持有效学习的过程和行为的意识，这种意识可能引发学生决策上的问题。与这一观点相同，Hussman和O 'Loughlin还发现学生报告的许多常见学习策略与课程表现之间存在负相关。因此，不管个人学习方式或者学习技巧与风格的一致性如何，许多学生都采取了不支持信息理解和记忆的策略。

Fortunately, cognitive science has identified a number of methods to enhance knowledge acquisition, and these techniques have fairly universal benefit. These effective strategies were identified decades ago and have convincing and significant empirical support. Why then, do we still persist in our belief that learning styles matter, and ignore these tried and true techniques?

幸运的是，认知科学已经验证了许多提高知识获取效率的方法，这些技巧具有非常广泛的好处。这些有效的策略早在几十年前就被发现了，并拥有令人信服且重要的经验支撑。那么，为什么我们仍坚持认为学习方式很重要，却忽视了经过实践证实的技巧呢?