Fallacies About Learning

As we start to end the current school year and begin preparations for the new one, let’s begin the light on and throw away our misconceptions about learning. These are excess baggage which must be discarded, because they are an unnecessary burden on both teachers and learners alike.

Fallacy #1.  Youngsters who cannot remember verbal instructions tend to be less intelligent than those who can.

The research:  Each student’s perceptual strengths (visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic) should be identified. A new subject matter should be taught through resources or approaches that compliment their strongest modality, reinforced through their second strongest, and reinforced again through their third modality (Kroon; Dunn).

Fallacy #2.  Students learn best in well illuminated areas and damage their eyes when they read in low light.

The research:  Many students perform significantly better in low rather than a bright light. Very often, bright light makes students restless, fidgety, and hyperactive (Krimsky; Dunn et al)

Fallacy #3. Homework should reinforce what has been taught and should be assigned from an appropriate text after a lecture.

The research:   Since student achieve higher grades when taught through their perceptual strengths, it is only justifiable that the same concept should be applied in doing or assigning homework (Dunn and Dunn)

Fallacy #4. Students learn best when seated upright, before or in front of a desk or a table.

The research. Many classrooms use wooden, steel or plastic chairs and desks for students. When a person sits on a chair constructed from these materials, approximately 75 percent of the total body weight is supported on only four square inches (4 in2) of bone (P. Branton; Shea; Hodges). The resulting stress on the tissues of the buttocks often cause fatigue and discomfort.

Fallacy #5. Generally, the older the students are, the easier it is for them to adapt to a teacher’s style.

The research. Nothing is more unbearable than treating individuals as though they were equals in most ways. Students should be permitted options and choices for completing their tasks and homework (Price; Hunt; Mager and McCann; White; White et al.).

Fallacy #6. Most students could achieve well academically if only they were self-motivated.

The research. Studies show that students achieve significantly higher scores when taught through approaches that respond to their individual learning styles. Motivation is increased when students exercise control over their own studies (R.F. Mager and J. McCann, “Learner Controlled Instruction”). Motivation changes from day to day, class to class, and teacher to teacher.

Fallacy #7. Whole group instruction is the best way to teach.

The research. Some students do their best thinking alone. Many work better in pairs or teams. Some like to learn with adults, whereas others need peers. A small percentage of students cannot concentrate with anyone present while others may not have the skills to work independently (Thomas De Bello, “A Critical Analysis of the Achievement and Attitude Effects of Administrative Assignments…).

Fallacy #8. Students concentrate best when classroom temperature is maintained at a level ranging from 30.9 to 32.7 degrees Celsius.

The research. Preferences vary dramatically among age groups, between sexes, and among individuals regardless of age and sex. (P.G. Murrain, “Administrative Determinations Concerning Facilities Utilization and Instructional Grouping…”)

Fallacy #9. Truancy is related to poor attitudes, home problems and lack of motivation.

The research. A study of truants reveals that they are low-academic achievers, having no study skills and low self-esteem. A disproportionate number of them are males. They generally come from low socio-economic status families and have no participation in or identification with the school. (C.B. Douglas, “Making Biology Easier to Understand…”).

Fallacy #10. Students perform better on tests and learn more from their homework in an absolutely quiet atmosphere.

The research. Many adolescents think and remember best when studying with music (Gary Price, Which Learning Style Elements are Stable and Which Tend to Change”). Few students require so much silence to perform more efficiently on tests.

Fallacy #11. Students who do not sit still are not ready to learn.

The research. When students are permitted to move from one instructional area to another to learn new and difficult information, they achieved statistically better scores than they did when required to learn while remaining seated. (Joan Della Valle, “An Experiment and Investigation of the Relationship[s] between Preferences and Mobility…”)

Fallacy #12. Effective teaching requires clearly stated objectives followed by detailed step by step, sequential explanations until students understand what is being taught.

The research. Analytical learners pay attention to a series of facts leading to a concept. Global learners grasp large concepts and then tackle the details and facts related to the concept. Both groups learn especially well and achieve significantly higher scores when taught in a style that is correct for them. (C.B. Douglas)

Fallacy #13. Students learn best on blocks of time approximately 40 to 55 minutes with variations for laboratory period (80-110 minutes).

The research. When students are permitted to learn in an environment that responds to their mobility and furniture needs and can learn through their perceptual strengths (visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic) rather than solely by lecture, they are better able to concentrate and remember regardless of the scheduled amount of time (Joan Della Valle and L.M. Miller, “Mobility as an Element of Learning Styles…”).

Fallacy #14. Eating should not be permitted in classrooms except at snack time; food belongs to the canteen.

The research. Some students eat, drink, chew or bite on objects as they study or concentrate. A study showed that students who eat raw vegetables and popcorn while taking a test achieved significantly higher scores than those who needed food but were denied it. (Harold MacMurren, “A Comparative Study of the Effects of Matching and Mismatching Students…”).

Fallacy # 15. Students learn difficult subjects best in the early morning, when they are most alert.

The research. When students are allowed to learn subjects at their preferred time of day, their behaviour, motivation, and mathematics scores will improve (S. Caruthers and A. Young, “Preference of Conditioning Time in Learning Environments…”)

By HENRY S. TENEDERO

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