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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Matching teaching to style of learning

Overview

  • Influence: Matching teaching to style of learning
  • Domain: Student Learning Strategies
  • Sub-Domain: Student-focused interventions
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Likely to have a small positive impact
  • Influence Definition: Where different forms of teaching are tied to the students' preferred style of learning (e.g., kinesthetic (movement), visual, auditory, and tactile) for a specific task.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 4
  • Number of studies: 150
  • Number of students: 23,779
  • Number of effects: 295
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.11
  • Robustness index: 3

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Journal of Classroom Interaction Garlinger & Frank Teacher-Student Cognitive Style and Academic Achievement: A Review and Mini-Meta-Analysis 1986 Field independence/dependence on achievement 7 1,531 7 -0.03
Exceptional Children Kavale & Forness Substance over style: Assessing the efficacy of modality testing and teaching 1987 Modality testing and teaching 39 3,087 205 0.13
Psychological Bulletin Phillips, Fletcher, Marks & Hine Thinking styles and decision making: A meta-analysis. 2016 Reflection thinking styles on performance 89 17,704 68 0.11
Learning and Individual Differences Peterson & Meissel The effect of Cognitive Style Analysis (CSA) test on achievement: A meta-analytic review. 2015 verbal-imagery vs holistic thinking 15 1,457 15 0.16
TOTAL/AVERAGE 150 23,779 295 0.09
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