The concept of learning styles has been the subject of a great deal of research in academia, and the findings of learning styles research has been applied in many training initiatives. In corporate training and elsewhere, part of the appeal of computer-based training is the potential to incorporate techniques that are effective for multiple different learning styles. Learning style research is based on the belief that most learners favor particular methods of information processing. The trend toward the consideration of learning styles started in the 1970s, spawning increasing levels of research and  the identification of more and more styles. The origins of this research generally identified just three primary styles, Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic (VAK), based on the belief that some people process visual stimuli best, others what they hear, and some are very adept by “learning by doing.” A fourth category was identified by early researchers as applicable to people who learn best through written information.

More recently, training professionals have access to research that purports to demonstrate scores of theoretical styles of learning. Not surprisingly, this has triggered some backlash in the academic realm where the validity and usefulness of learning style studies has been sharply questioned and criticized by some recent researchers.

In the realm of corporate training, consideration of learning styles is limited for practical reasons. Training professionals cannot generally devote resources toward gathering information on the learning styles within their target audience.

We feel that training professionals should be familiar with the “core” learning styles (VAK, and optionally the reading preference), and attempt to create training materials that include a mix of modalities to appeal to persons with each of the styles. In addition to addressing the preferences of persons who strongly favor one style or another, this approach will help you attain a level of variety in your training that will help all learners remain engaged.