Learning Isn’t What We Think It Is: Why Evidence Matters More Than Intuition in Learning Design
- Zyrah Bataller Maclan
- Jan 12
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 21
If learning were obvious, why would so many strategies fail?
“What kind of learner are you?”
Visual. Auditory. Hands-on. Kinesthetic.
Most of us can answer this question instantly. It feels personal, intuitive, and affirming. Yet decades of learning research tell us something uncomfortable: what feels right about learning is often misleading.
Across education, training, and workplace learning, instructional decisions are frequently guided by intuition, preference, or tradition. However, learning science consistently shows that learning is not passive, effortless, or automatically improved by matching instruction to perceived preferences. Instead, learning depends on what learners actively do and think during instruction (Simon, 1996).
In this blog, I define what learning actually is, explain how we understand learning through evidence-based theories, and debunk common myths that persist despite contradictory research. Drawing on How Learning Works (Lovett et al., 2023), Social Cognitive Theory (Denler et al., 2010), Sociocultural Theory (Scott & Palincsar, 2012), and research critiquing educational “urban legends” (Kirschner & van Merriënboer, 2013), alongside two widely used explanatory videos, I argue for learning design grounded in evidence rather than intuition.
Background:
I am a learning designer with a background in training delivery and technical support, and I have developed my instructional design expertise through my master’s program in Learning Design and Technology. Through coursework, readings, and applied design projects, I began to examine learning more critically, especially the gap between learners’ confidence and their ability to apply what they learned in new contexts.
This disconnect between perceived learning and actual learning prompted me to engage more deeply with learning science and evidence-based instructional design. Herbert A. Simon’s assertion that “learning results from what the student does and thinks” (Simon, 1996) fundamentally reshaped how I understand my role as a learning designer. Rather than focusing on content delivery, I now approach design as the intentional creation of experiences that guide learners’ thinking, attention, and cognitive effort.
What Learning Actually Is
Learning Is a Process That Produces Lasting Change
Lovett et al. (2023) define learning as a process that leads to change, resulting from experience and increasing the potential for improved performance and future learning. This definition emphasizes three critical ideas:
Learning unfolds over time
Learning involves durable change, not temporary performance
Learning cannot be directly observed, only inferred
This distinction explains why engagement, enjoyment, or confidence alone are poor indicators of learning.
Learning Is Something Learners Do
Across major learning theories, one principle remains consistent: learning is an active and effortful process. Cognitive theories emphasize mental processing and the construction and reorganization of knowledge structures, or schemas, as learners engage with new information (Shuell, 2013). Social Cognitive Theory highlights the role of learner agency, self-efficacy, and self-regulation in shaping how learners engage with and persist in learning tasks (Denler et al., 2010). From a sociocultural perspective, learning is situated within social interaction, language, and the use of cultural tools, emphasizing participation and meaning-making within a community (Scott & Palincsar, 2012).
In all cases, instruction influences learning only by shaping what learners do and think during the learning experience.
Debunking Common Myths About Learning
Myth 1: “People Learn Best in Their Preferred Learning Style”
One of the most persistent myths in education is the idea of learning styles. In this video, individuals confidently identify themselves as visual, auditory, or hands-on learners, reflecting a belief shared by over 90% of teachers in some surveys (Veritasium, 2014).
The video walks through controlled experiments testing the learning-styles hypothesis: learners identified as visual or verbal were randomly assigned to matching or mismatched instructional formats. Across multiple studies and populations, matching instruction to learning style produced no learning advantage.
Instead, individuals who performed better did so because they used effective cognitive strategies, such as organizing information or creating meaningful stories - strategies that benefit all learners, regardless of preference.
This aligns directly with Kirschner and van Merriënboer’s (2013) argument that learners are poor judges of what supports learning, often mistaking fluency and ease for understanding.
Myth 2: “Seeing Means Learning”
The video The Monkey Business Illusion demonstrates that attention is selective. Even when individuals look directly at a scene, they may fail to notice important information if their attention is directed elsewhere (Simons, 2010).
This finding reinforces a core learning principle: exposure alone does not guarantee learning. Learners can see or hear information without actively processing its meaning. Learning occurs when attention is intentionally directed and when learners engage in the cognitive processes necessary to interpret, connect, and make sense of new information (Lovett et al., 2023).
Together, these videos illustrate why effective instructional design must go beyond intuition or surface-level engagement and intentionally support learners’ attention and thinking.
How Learning Science Informs Better Design
Evidence-Based Principles from How Learning Works
Lovett et al. (2023) synthesize decades of research into principles that explain why learning succeeds or fails. These include:
Prior knowledge can help or hinder learning
Motivation directs and sustains effort
Practice and feedback drive mastery
Metacognition enables learners to regulate learning
These principles allow designers to diagnose learning problems and design intentionally rather than relying on trends.
Social Cognitive Theory: Beliefs Shape Learning
Social Cognitive Theory explains how learning is shaped by self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and self-regulation (Denler et al., 2010). Learners who believe they can succeed are more likely to persist, use strategies, and engage deeply.
Effective learning design:
Builds early success
Uses clear models
Provides feedback that emphasizes progress and strategy
Sociocultural Theory: Learning as Participation
Sociocultural Theory reframes learning as participation in socially meaningful activity (Scott & Palincsar, 2012). Learning develops through interaction, language, and guided participation within the Zone of Proximal Development.
This perspective reinforces that learning is not just cognitive, but social, cultural, and contextual.
Why Evidence-Based Learning Design Matters
When instruction is guided by myths, such as learning styles, it can:
Waste time and resources
Limit learner engagement with effective strategies
Create false explanations for learning success or failure
Evidence-based learning design enables instructional designers to make defensible, equitable, and effective decisions grounded in how learning actually works (Kirschner & van Merriënboer, 2013; Lovett et al., 2023).
Conclusion: Designing for Learning, Not Illusions
Learning is not about what feels engaging or intuitive. It is about designing experiences that guide attention, support effortful thinking, and promote meaningful understanding.
As learning designers, we have a responsibility to question assumptions, examine evidence, and design experiences that truly support learning and transfer.
Call to Action:
When designing instruction, ask not “What do learners prefer?” but “What does the evidence say helps learners learn?”
Design note: All conceptual graphics in this post were created by the author using AI-assisted design tools to visually support learning science principles discussed in the text.
References
Denler, H., Wolters, C., & Benzon, M. (2010). Social cognitive theory. In E. M. Anderman & L. H. Anderman (Eds.), Psychology of classroom learning: An encyclopedia (pp. xx–xx). The Gale Group, Inc.
Kirschner, P. A., & van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2013). Do learners really know best? Urban legends in education. Educational Psychologist, 48(3), 169–183. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2013.804395
Lovett, M. C., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Ambrose, S. A., & Norman, M. K. (2023). How learning works: 8 research-based principles for smart teaching (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Scott, S., & Palincsar, A. (2012). Sociocultural theory. In E. M. Anderman & L. H. Anderman (Eds.), Psychology of classroom learning: An encyclopedia (pp. xx–xx). The Gale Group, Inc.
Shuell, T. J. (2013). Theories of learning. In E. M. Anderman & L. H. Anderman (Eds.), Psychology of classroom learning: An encyclopedia (pp. xx–xx). The Gale Group, Inc.
Simon, H. A. (1996). The sciences of the artificial (3rd ed.). MIT Press. (Original work published 1969)
Simons, D. J. (2010). The monkey business illusion [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/rhgwIhB58PA
Veritasium. (2014). Do learning styles exist? [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/IGQmdoK_ZfY
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