This Will Make you Rethink the Cone or Pyramid of Learning

Dwayne Harapnuik —  December 3, 2017 — Leave a comment



Next, to the myth of learning styles, there is perhaps no other more widely perpetuated educational myth than Edgar’s Cone of Experience, Cone of Learning, Learning Pyramid, Pyramid of Learning or whatever the latest perpetrator of the myth chooses to label it. Larry Cuban refers to the Learning Pyramid as a Zombie Idea because no matter how many scientific-crafted shafts are buried in its heart it just keeps on coming back. Rather than revisit the research the points to the fact the cone of learning is a myth I am simply going to point to several definitive sites that deal with this myth very thoroughly:

Will Thalheimer’s post Mythical Retention Data & The Corrupted Cone offers some of the best evidence to unpack the cone of learning myth.
https://www.worklearning.com/2015/01/05/mythical-retention-data-the-corrupted-cone/

Daniel Willingham’s post Cone of learning or cone of shame? Offer another perspective on the cone of learning myth.
http://www.danielwillingham.com/daniel-willingham-science-and-education-blog/cone-of-learning-or-cone-of-shame

Larry Cuban’s post Zombie Ideas Again: “The Learning Pyramid” also provides substantive evidence for the lack of evidence for the learning pyramid and has a great title.
https://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2016/01/16/zombie-ideas-again-the-learning-pyramid/

The peer-reviewed article – The Learning Pyramid: Does it point teachers in the right direction?
http://www.impudent.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Lalley-Miller-TheLearningPyramid-Education-200709-.pdf

Dwayne Harapnuik

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