Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    An AI-Driven Work Force
    AI and Microcredentials
Sign In
Newsletter Icon

Teaching

Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, sign up to receive it in your email inbox.

October 17, 2019
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email

From: Beckie Supiano

Subject: ‘Students Learn Best in Their Preferred Learning Style,’ and Other Neuromyths

Welcome to Teaching, a free weekly newsletter from The Chronicle of Higher Education.

This week:

  • I describe some recent survey findings about the extent to which college instructors believe in neuromyths.
  • I pass along some reader responses about how to help students navigate midterm grades.
  • I point you toward the newest report from The Chronicle, “The Right Mix of Academic Programs.” And no, it’s not just about program cuts — it also covers how to adapt and expand academic offerings.
  • I share a quote from a recent news article about teaching, and ask for your input.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

Welcome to Teaching, a free weekly newsletter from The Chronicle of Higher Education.

This week:

  • I describe some recent survey findings about the extent to which college instructors believe in neuromyths.
  • I pass along some reader responses about how to help students navigate midterm grades.
  • I point you toward the newest report from The Chronicle, “The Right Mix of Academic Programs.” And no, it’s not just about program cuts — it also covers how to adapt and expand academic offerings.
  • I share a quote from a recent news article about teaching, and ask for your input.

Right-Brained?

Professors are susceptible to neuromyths — false beliefs about learning that arise from misunderstandings about the brain. So are the instructional designers and professional developers who support their teaching. That’s the main finding of “International Report: Neuromyths and Evidence-Based Practices in Higher Education,” which was released last month by the Online Learning Consortium.

Among the most widely believed neuromyths is that students learn best when they’re taught according to their preferred learning style — visually, for example — according to the report, which is based on survey responses from about a thousand instructors and support professionals. Just over a quarter of professors correctly identified that idea as false, while 46 percent of instructional designers and 35 percent of professional-development administrators did.

There is no evidence, the report says, to support the idea that people learn best when taught in their preferred learning style. In fact, it says, research suggests that “teaching to learning styles may actually hinder learning or affect a student’s self-perception,” because it may lead students to seek only information presented in a particular way. If you’d like to explore that topic further, this article from The Atlantic is a good place to start.

Other examples of pervasive neuromyths include that people can be “left-brained” or “right-brained,” and that we use only 10 percent of our brain. The report includes research-backed explanations about why each of those misunderstandings is incorrect.

Instructors’ susceptibility to neuromyths matters, the report says, because the way instructors teach is rooted in their understanding of how people learn.

The survey also asked respondents about their familiarity with a number of evidence-based teaching practices, like the value of explaining the purpose of an activity and providing meaningful feedback (nearly all respondents got those two particular items right).

The report recommends that:

  • Colleges should “assess the awareness of neuromyths, general information about the brain, and evidence-based practices among their instructors, instructional designers, and administrators.”
  • Instructors and support-staff members — perhaps aided by teaching centers — should learn more about the brain. (The report includes a resource list.)
  • Colleges should ensure that their professional-development materials for instructors are scientifically accurate.

The report also suggests some ideas for future research, such as exploring a link between instructors’ adherence to neuromyths and their instructional practices, and examining whether “commercial products for the brain and learning” encourage the belief in neuromyths.

There’s lots of misinformation about learning floating around. Has learning more about the brain changed your own teaching? Do you share research with your students about how learning works? What kind of reaction have they had? Tell me about it at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com, and your example may appear in a future newsletter.

Making Sense of Midterms

Last week I asked how you help students navigate midterm exams and the implications of getting their first big grade. Here are some of your responses:

  • Caitie Leibman, who directs the writing center at Doane University, in Nebraska, begins classes in her English 101 course with a writing prompt. Before students get their midterm grades, she writes, her prompt is: “What do you want out of the rest of the semester?” While some students write about grades, “they also end up taking this opportunity to level with me about how sleep is impacting their semester, what skills they want to give more attention, and what’s working for them so far.”
  • Robin Musselman, a psychology professor at Lehigh Carbon Community College, in Pennsylvania, teaches lots of nonmajors in her introductory courses. “I spend a lot of time talking about first exam grades,” she writes. For students who didn’t do well, she emphasizes that a poor grade is a warning to study differently: “More of the same strategies is not going to work!” Musselman also passed along this video from Stephen Chew, a professor at Samford University, which gives students advice on handling a bad grade. It’s part of a series on how to study.
  • Zachary Nowak, associate director of the Center for Food & Sustainability Studies at the Umbra Institute, in Italy, took issue with the premise of the question. “I’ve never had a midterm for any class I’ve taught and never will,” Nowak writes. “The idea that a student’s first significant feedback (or at least what they see as significant — i.e. summative — feedback) is something midway through the term is ridiculous to me. I try to have many, low-stakes assignments starting on the first day.”

Adapting Academic Offerings

Campus leaders are often reviewing academic programs these days, with an eye toward culling expensive, unpopular, or obsolete offerings — or maybe transforming them. What should go into that decision-making, and who should be involved? In the past, business and academic mind-sets have clashed, but that may be changing, as more faculty members track enrollments and propose creative new directions. Our latest report, “The Right Mix of Academic Programs,” explores how to evaluate, cut, adapt, and expand programs, as well as optimize course scheduling. Buy a copy in the Chronicle Store.

Quoted:

“I wanted them to feel entitled to question the syllabus, which is this thing students take for granted as neutral even though it’s actually loaded. I wanted them to know that art is nuanced and complex, and in any artist’s life there is going to be something objectionable, but that’s not an excuse to close ourselves off from engaging with the art.”

— Emily Gowen, a literature instructor at Boston University, explaining her course’s inclusion of works by Junot Diaz to The New York Times for a story on teaching the works of authors accused of sexual harassment and assault in the #MeToo age.

If you haven’t yet read the full article — which includes thoughtful perspectives from teachers and professors — you can do so here. Has #MeToo caused you to reconsider your syllabus? How do you discuss decisions with students about whose work to study, and what have those conversations been like? Tell me at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com, and your example may appear in a future newsletter.

Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us, at dan.berrett@chronicle.com, beckie.supiano@chronicle.com, or beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com.

— Beckie

Tags
Teaching & Learning
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Photo illustration showing Santa Ono seated, places small in the corner of a dark space
'Unrelentingly Sad'
Santa Ono Wanted a Presidency. He Became a Pariah.
Illustration of a rushing crowd carrying HSI letters
Seeking precedent
Funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions Is Discriminatory and Unconstitutional, Lawsuit Argues
Photo-based illustration of scissors cutting through paper that is a photo of an idyllic liberal arts college campus on one side and money on the other
Finance
Small Colleges Are Banding Together Against a Higher Endowment Tax. This Is Why.
Pano Kanelos, founding president of the U. of Austin.
Q&A
One Year In, What Has ‘the Anti-Harvard’ University Accomplished?

From The Review

Photo- and type-based illustration depicting the acronym AAUP with the second A as the arrow of a compass and facing not north but southeast.
The Review | Essay
The Unraveling of the AAUP
By Matthew W. Finkin
Photo-based illustration of the Capitol building dome propped on a stick attached to a string, like a trap.
The Review | Opinion
Colleges Can’t Trust the Federal Government. What Now?
By Brian Rosenberg
Illustration of an unequal sign in black on a white background
The Review | Essay
What Is Replacing DEI? Racism.
By Richard Amesbury

Upcoming Events

Plain_Acuity_DurableSkills_VF.png
Why Employers Value ‘Durable’ Skills
Warwick_Leadership_Javi.png
University Transformation: a Global Leadership Perspective
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin