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- Published on: 28 July 2018
- Published on: 28 July 2018“Learning pyramid theory” is bogus
It is unfortunate that the authors have poorly cited a justification for not using lectures. In their “Lessons and Limitations,” they write: “Lecture-based education has its own limitations. Learning pyramid theory suggests that average retention following a lecture can be as low as 5%.” They cite Lalley and Miller as their source.
If they look closely at Lalley and Miller, however, they will see that that paper does not support their contention. Worse, Lalley and Miller actually argue against that model. Other papers on the topic reinforce the point that the “Learning pyramid theory” is bogus, and not to be trusted. (e.g. Masters, K (2013) Edgar Dale's Pyramid of Learning in medical education: A literature review, Medical Teacher, 35:11, e1584-e1593, DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2013.800636 (Note possible conflicts of interests, as I am the author of that article.))
Conflict of Interest:
I am the author of the paper to which I refer these authors. I state that clearly in my text.