Learning Styles: An education myth debunked by science.

Many teachers and students believe that they have a specific learning style.  For example, some students will claim that they are, "visual" or "kinesthetic" learners.  This long held belief that students learn in specific fashions is apparently a myth.  According a Nature Reviews Neuroscience, by Paul Howard-Jones, the interconnections of the brain and numerous educational and lab studies fail to support teaching to student learning styles (2014).  Furthermore, neuroscientist and writer, Christian Jarrett writes, 
"surprisingly few studies of this format (learning preference) have produced supporting evidence for learning styles; far more evidence (such as this study) runs counter to the myth. What often happens is that both groups perform better when taught by one particular style. This makes sense because although each of us is unique, usually the most effective way for us to learn is based not on our individual preferences but on the nature of the material we’re being taught" (2015).

Rohrer & Pashler (2012), explain that this myth continues to hold credence with many educators and students because it is founded a basic ideas which are true.  For example, while some students are poor visual learners this does not imply that an anatomy textbook should have less diagrams.

Works Cited:

Howard-Jones, P. (2014). Neuroscience and education: Myths and messages. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

Jarrett, C. (2015, January 5). All You Need to Know About the 'Learning Styles' Myth, in Two Minutes | WIRED. Retrieved January 22, 2015, from http://www.wired.com/2015/01/need-know-learning-styles-myth-two-minutes/

Rohrer, D., & Pashler, H. (2012). Learning styles: Where’s the evidence? Medical Education, 634-635.

Gynandromorphs in Nature

Male and female sexes are often quite obvious in many species of animals in the natural world.  Male birds, for example, can often have brightly colored feathers when compared to their female counterparts.  Sometimes, though errors can occur in cell division of the fertilized and an organism can develop exhibiting both male and female characters (Wall, 2011).  This error is fairly uncommon but a number of documented cases exist.  For example, a number of butterfly species have been found that are bilateral gynandromorphs, each sex gets half of the insect: wings, genitalia, body size, and other sex-related features.  Gynandromorphs can also form in insect species when a female has eggs which are fertilized by more than one sperm or from symbiotic bacterial infections (Parry, 2011). Bilateral gynandromorphs have also been documented in birds as well.

Works Cited: 

Adams, J. (2014, December 11). Georgia Lepidoptera. Retrieved January 14, 2015, from http://www.daltonstate.edu/galeps/

Parry, W. (2011, May 31). Gender-Bender Bugs Impress Collectors. Retrieved January 14, 2015, from http://www.livescience.com/14207-gynandromorphs-butterfly-moths-arthropods-genetic-anomaly.html

Wall, T. (2011, May 31). A Gender-bender Colored Cardinal : DNews. Retrieved January 14, 2015, from http://news.discovery.com/animals/bi-color-cardinal-mystery-110531.htm