multisensory learning

{{Short description|Learning with the use of more than one sense}}

Multisensory learning is the assumption that individuals learn better if they are taught using more than one sense (modality).{{cite web |url=https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/instructional-strategies/multisensory-instruction-what-you-need-to-know |title=Multisensory instruction: what you need to know, Amanda Morin, www.understood.org|date=5 August 2019 }}{{cite web |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/new-handbook-multisensory-processing |title=The New Handbook of Multisensory Processing, 2012, edited by Barry E. Stein, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.}}{{cite journal |pmid=27918886 |pmc=5447489|title=Computational principles and models of multisensory integration., Chandrasekaran C1.April 2017|journal=Current Opinion in Neurobiology|volume=43|pages=25–34|year=2017|last1=Chandrasekaran|first1=C.|doi=10.1016/j.conb.2016.11.002}} The senses usually employed in multisensory learning are visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile – VAKT (i.e. seeing, hearing, doing, and touching). Other senses might include smell, taste and balance (e.g. making vegetable soup or riding a bicycle).{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |title=The effects of multisensory, explicit, and systematic instructional practices on elementary school students with learning impairments in encoding and oral reading |publisher=Northeastern University |date=February 2015 |hdl=2047/D20194142 |hdl-access=free |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Lisa}}

Multisensory learning is different from learning styles which is the assumption that people can be classified according to their learning style (audio, visual or kinesthetic). However, critics of learning styles say there is no consistent evidence that identifying an individual student's learning style and teaching for that style will produce better outcomes. Consequently, learning styles has not received widespread support from scientists, nor has it proven to be effective in the classroom.{{refn|Sources:{{cite journal|title= Cedar Riener & Daniel Willingham (2010) The Myth of Learning Styles |journal= Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning |volume= 42 |issue= 5 |pages= 32–35 |doi= 10.1080/00091383.2010.503139 |year = 2010|last1 = Riener|first1 = Cedar|last2= Willingham |first2= Daniel |s2cid= 144349329 }}{{cite journal|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1065333 |title=The Scientific Status of Learning Styles Theories|journal=Teaching of Psychology|volume=42|issue=3|pages=266–271|doi=10.1177/0098628315589505|year=2015|last1=Willingham|first1=Daniel T.|last2=Hughes|first2=Elizabeth M.|last3=Dobolyi|first3=David G.|s2cid=146126992|url-access=subscription}}{{cite web|url=https://blog.cengage.com/teach-learning-skills-learning-styles-multi-sensory-learners|title=Teach learning skills not learning styles, Christine Harrington, March 24, 2014, Posted in: Curriculum and Programs, Curriculum Development|date=2014-03-24|access-date=2018-03-05|archive-date=2018-11-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119085105/https://blog.cengage.com/teach-learning-skills-learning-styles-multi-sensory-learners/|url-status=dead}}{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/11352189 |title=Neuroscience and Education, Usha Goswami - Neuromyths 2006 |journal=Nature Reviews Neuroscience |volume=7 |issue=5 |pages=406–413 |last1=Goswami |first1=Usha |doi=10.1038/nrn1907 |pmid=16607400 |year=2006 |s2cid=3113512 }}{{cite journal|title=The science myths that will not die, Nature Journal of Science, December 2015|journal=Nature |date=December 2015 |volume=528 |issue=7582 |pages=322–325 |doi=10.1038/528322a |last1=Scudellari |first1=Megan |pmid=26672537 |s2cid=1414926 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.compedu.2016.12.006|title=Stop propagating the learning styles myth|journal=Computers & Education|volume=106|pages=166–171|date=March 2017|last1=Kirschner|first1=Paul A.}}{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-why-the-idea-that-we-each-have-a-learning-style-is-bad-science?perpetual=yes&limitstart=1|title=There's Actually No Such Thing as Different 'Learning Styles', According to Science |website=ScienceAlert |date=5 April 2018 |author=Lindsay Dodgson}}{{cite journal|title=Research:Another Nail in the Coffin for Learning Styles-Indiana University School of Medicine, 2018|journal=Anatomical Sciences Education|volume=12|issue=1|pages=6–19|doi=10.1002/ase.1777|pmid=29533532|year = 2019|last1 = Husmann|first1 = Polly R.|last2=O'Loughlin|first2=Valerie Dean|s2cid=3885672}}}} (For more on this see learning styles.)

Reports suggest the human brain has evolved to process multisensory signals, making it more natural than unisensory processing.{{cite web|url=http://faculty.ucr.edu/~aseitz/pubs/Shams_Seitz08.pdf |title=Benefits of multisensory learning, 2008, Opinion - Trends in Cognitive Sciences is a peer-reviewed reviews journal published by Cell Press. Vol.xxx No.x, Ladan Shams and Aaron R. Seitz}} Recent research has made clear that multisensory processing of information is part of daily life, whereby the brain integrates the information from different modalities (senses) into a coherent mental perception.{{cite journal |pmid=16713325 |title=Is neocortex essentially multisensory? Ghazanfar and Schroeder|journal=Trends in Cognitive Sciences|volume=10|issue=6|pages=278–85|year=2006|last1=Ghazanfar|first1=A. A.|last2=Schroeder|first2=C. E.|doi=10.1016/j.tics.2006.04.008|citeseerx=10.1.1.326.7032|s2cid=2218969}}{{cite journal |pmid=26275965 |title=The multisensory function of the human primary visual cortex |journal=Neuropsychologia|volume=83|pages=161–169|doi=10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.08.011|year=2016|last1=Murray|first1=M. M.|last2=Thelen|first2=A.|last3=Thut|first3=G.|last4=Romei|first4=V.|last5=Martuzzi|first5=R.|last6=Matusz|first6=P. J.|doi-access=free}}

Some studies conclude that the benefits of multisensory learning are greatest if the senses are engaged concurrently (see Multisensory integration) and the instruction is direct (explicit) and systematic (see {{slink|Pre-attentive processing#Multisensory integration}}). However, some neurologists question whether more is "actually better for learners who are struggling". The rational is that learners with developmental disorders may have impairments in cognitive control, planning and attention, so multisensory integration might place additional demands on systems that are already straining. Consequentially, it is suggested, it may be better to narrow the alternatives to one that works. Reading at the Speed of Light: How we Read, why so many can't, and what can be done about it, 2017, page 303, Mark Seidenberg {{ISBN|978-1-5416-1715-5}} Other studies suggest that multisensory integration only develops optimally by middle childhood (i.e. eight years of age or older).{{cite journal|title=Multisensory Integration: A Late Bloomer, 2008|journal=Current Biology|volume=18|issue=12|pages=R519–R521|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2008.05.002|pmid=18579094|year=2008|last1=Ernst|first1=Marc O.|s2cid=130911|doi-access=free}} Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Spemannstr. 41, 72076 Tübingen, Germany

According to the U.K. Independent review of the teaching of early reading (Rose Report 2006) multisensory learning is also effective because it keeps students more engaged in their learning.{{cite web |url=http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/5551/2/report.pdf |title=Final Report, Jim Rose,March 2006}} In 2010 the U.K. Department for Education established the core criteria for programs that teach school children to read by using systematic Synthetic phonics. It includes a requirement that the material "uses a multi-sensory approach so that children learn variously from simultaneous visual, auditory and kinaesthetic activities which are designed to secure essential phonic knowledge and skills".{{cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/298420/phonics_core_criteria_and_the_self-assessment_process.pdf|title=Phonics teaching materials: core criteria and the self-assessment process, Department for Education, 2010}}

The following organizations recommend multisensory instruction for learners with a learning disability: The International Dyslexia Association (IDA){{cite web |url=https://dyslexiaida.org/multisensory-structured-language-teaching/ |title=MULTISENSORY STRUCTURED LANGUAGE TEACHING, IDA |access-date=2018-03-21 |archive-date=2018-01-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121222816/https://dyslexiaida.org/multisensory-structured-language-teaching/ |url-status=dead }} and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).{{cite web |url=https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/learning/conditioninfo/treatment/default |title=Interventions for Specific Learning Disabilities, nichd.nih.gov/health|date=11 September 2018 }} And one study says there is strong support for using multisensory experiences to increase the focus of students with special needs.{{cite journal|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ921210 |title=Multi-Sensory Intervention Observational Research|journal=International Journal of Special Education|volume=26|issue=1|pages=202–214|date=2010-11-30|last1=Thompson|first1=Carla J.}} One of the oldest proponents of multisensory phonics for remedial reading instruction is Orton-Gillingham, dating back to 1935. What Works Clearinghouse, a part of the Institute of Education Sciences reports there is a lack of studies meeting its strict evidence standards so it is "unable to draw any conclusions about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of unbranded Orton-Gillingham–based strategies for students with learning disabilities".{{Cite web|url=https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/InterventionReports/wwc_ortongill_070110.pdf|title=Orton-Gillingham–based Strategies (Unbranded), Institute of Education Sciences and What Works Clearinghouse, July 2010}} However, Best Evidence Encyclopedia,{{cite web|url=http://www.bestevidence.org/index.cfm|title=Best Evidence Encyclopedia.org|access-date=2020-05-01|archive-date=2021-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309185601/http://www.bestevidence.org/index.cfm|url-status=dead}} a part of Johns Hopkins School of Education found one qualifying study that showed an effect size of +0.43.{{cite web|url=http://www.bestevidence.org/overviews/O/Orton-Gillingham-Approach.pdf|title=Orton-Gillingham Approach, Best Evidence Encyclopedia, 2009|access-date=2020-05-01|archive-date=2019-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819090747/http://www.bestevidence.org/overviews/O/Orton-Gillingham-Approach.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bestevidence.org/word/begin_read_Jun_23_2009.pdf|title=Effective Beginning Reading Programs: A Best-Evidence Synthesis, Best Evidence Encyclopedia, 2009|access-date=2020-05-01|archive-date=2020-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215062003/http://bestevidence.org/word/begin_read_Jun_23_2009.pdf|url-status=dead}}