Celebrating 25 years of Kolb

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Celebrating 25 years of Kolbs learning cycle
An appreciative enquiry for 2009

• Extracts from slide presentation by Reg Dennick,
  Professor in Medical Education at the University
  of Nottingham reproduced with permission

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Experiential Learning
Learning is the process whereby knowledge is
created through the transformation of
experience. David Kolb
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Origins of the Kolb Cycle
Dewey
Lewin
Piaget
How experience can be transformed into action
Constructivist mechanism of learning experience
to abstraction
Importance of individual experience in learning
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Other influences on Kolb
Vygotsky
Freire
Jung
Experiential learning as liberating and leading
to critical consciousness
Psychological types and learning
styles. Individuation.
Experiential learning is a social process and is
influenced by cultural tools.
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The Prehension dimension modes of grasping
experience
Concrete Experience
APPREHENSION the tangible, felt qualities of
immediate experience
COMPREHENSION conceptual interpretation and
symbolic representations
Abstract conceptualisation
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The Transformation dimension modes of
processing experience
EXTENSION manipulation of the external world
Active experimentation
Reflective observation
INTENTION manipulation of the mental world
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Structural dimensions underlying the process of
experiential learning and the resulting basic
knowledge forms. (Kolb, 1984)
Concrete experience
Grasping by APPREHENSION
Transformation by
Reflective observation
Active experimentation
EXTENSION
INTENSION
Grasping by COMPREHENSION
Abstract conceptualisation
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What shall I do?
Outer world
Reflection and action on inner world produces
conjectures and hypotheses about outer world
Reflection on outer world builds up inner model
What does it mean?
Inner world
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Its not just a cycle!

• All four learning modes are present to the
  learner simultaneously
• The learner is constantly moving between the
  concrete and the abstract and between reflection
  and action.

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• all forms of human adaptation (learning)
  approximate to scientific inquiry.
• David Kolb 1984

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Learning is best facilitated in an environment
where there is dialectic tension and conflict
between immediate concrete experience and
analytical detachment. David Kolb (1984 p.9)
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Practical implications of Kolbs cycle for
learning

• Getting round the cycle
• Appraisal revalidation
• Mentoring
• Reflection
• Action planning

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Experiential learning

• All learning is learning from experience
• Work-experience
• On the job training
• Doing the job learning simultaneously
• Working independently
• Self-directed learning
• Self-monitoring
• Reflection
• Educational clinical supervision
• Mentoring
• Appraisal

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Getting the experiences

• At each stage in the cycle, how can the learner
  optimise their learning?
• What stands in the way?
• What opportunities are there?

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Reflecting on experience

• Debriefing
• Getting feedback
• Critical incidents
• Self-evaluation

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Building up knowledge, skills attitudes

• Reading the literature
• Self-directed learning
• Recording knowledge
• Practising skills
• Developing attitudes

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Deciding on action

• Personal development plans
• Action plans
• Personal objectives
• Feasibility
• Achievable?

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How does reflection help you learn?

• Experience is transformed into knowledge by
  reflection
• Reflection elaborates learning
• Reflection challenges assumptions
• Reflection helps relate theory to practice
• Feedback helps reflection
• Reflection can be guided via professional
  conversations

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Personal professional development
portfolio-based learning, appraisal/supervision

• All based on and follow the Kolb cycle.
• Experiences are recorded in Log-book/Portfolio
• Reflections are recorded and/or facilitated by
  professional conversation with mentor,
  supervisor.
• Knowledge, skills and attitudes are built from
  experience plus reflection and connected to the
  literature and other knowledge tools.
• Action plans for further experience are
  formulated via professional conversations.

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EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING KEY PRINCIPLES 1.Have
experiences 2. Reflect individually and/or with
others 3. Be aware of your learning style 3.
Get and give feedback 4. Actively build mental
models, practical skills and attitudes 5. Test
hypotheses and action plan 6. Use Log Books
Portfolios to record experiences and reflect
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Criticisms of Kolb

• It doesnt stress the social dimension of
  learning it focuses on the individual
• Some learners do not learn from experience
• Some learners do not reflect
• Skills can be learned without thought
• Ignores social dimension of learning

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The basic knowledge forms (Kolb, 1984)
Concrete experience
?
DIVERGENT knowledge
?
ACCOMMODATIVE knowledge
?
?
?
Reflective observation
Active experimentation
?
?
?
ASSIMILATIVE knowledge
?
CONVERGENT knowledge
?
Abstract conceptualisation
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Imaginative ability and awareness of meanings and
values. View situations from many perspectives
and attempt to see the whole picture. Thinking
generates alternative ideas and implications.
Good at brainstorming. Interested in people and
their feelings.
Doing things, carrying out plans and getting
involved in new experiences. The individual
adapts themselves to changing immediate
circumstances. Problems are solved by trial and
error often using other peoples knowledge.
Theories are easily discarded and are subordinate
to practical facts. Individuals are at ease with
people but are often seen as pushy.
Concrete experience
ACCOMMODATIVE knowledge
DIVERGENT knowledge
Reflective observation
Active experimentation
ASSIMILATIVE knowledge
CONVERGENT knowledge
Problem solving, decision making and the
practical application of ideas. Thinking
converges onto the solution of a question or
problem, using the hypothetico-deductive method.
Orientated towards technical tasks and problems
rather than social or interpersonal issues.
Inductive reasoning and the creation of
theoretical models by synthesising varied
observations into an integrated explanation. More
concerned with logically sound abstract ideas
than people.
Abstract conceptualisation
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Doing things, carrying out plans and getting
involved in new experiences. The individual
adapts themselves to changing immediate
circumstances. Problems are solved by trial and
error often using other peoples knowledge.
Theories are easily discarded and are subordinate
to practical facts. Individuals are at ease with
people but are often seen as pushy.
Imaginative ability and awareness of meanings and
values. View situations from many perspectives
and attempt to see the whole picture. Thinking
generates alternative ideas and implications.
Good at brainstorming. Interested in people and
their feelings.
Problem solving, decision making and the
practical application of ideas. Thinking
converges onto the solution of a question or
problem, using the hypothetico-deductive method.
Orientated towards technical tasks and problems
rather than social or interpersonal issues.
Inductive reasoning and the creation of
theoretical models by synthesising varied
observations into an integrated explanation. More
concerned with logically sound abstract ideas
than people.
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Get involved, open-minded, enthusiastic, love new
things Ill try anything once
Honey Mumford Learning Styles
Practical, experimental, down to earth There is
always a better way
Activists
Pragmatists
Reflectors
Look for principles, logical, perfectionist
What are the basic assumptions
Stand back, think, cautious Look before you
leap
Theorists
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TL Masters 2003
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TL Masters 2006
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Deep Learning (Going round the cycle)
Concrete experience
Active experimentation
Reflective Observation
Abstract conceptualisation
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Surface Learning (short-circuit!)
Concrete experience
Reflective Observation
Active experimentation
Abstract conceptualisation
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Trial Error?
Concrete experience
Reflective Observation
Active experimentation
Abstract conceptualisation
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As Kolb said..

• Psychological categorizations of people such
  as those depicted by psychological types can
  too easily become stereotypes that tend to
  trivialize human complexity and thus end up
  denying human individuality rather than
  characterizing it. In addition, type theories
  often have a static and fixed connotation to
  their descriptions of individuals, lending a
  fatalistic view of human change and development.
• Kolb, Experiential Learning (1982) p 63

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Constructive Experience implications for
teaching. 1.Acknowledge and respect the learner
and start from where they are. 2.Ascertain,
activate and build on their prior
knowledge. 3.Provide appropriate active learning
experiences of an individual and social
nature. 4.Facilitate reflection and provide
feedback. 5.Recognise the tentative nature of
knowledge and encourage enquiry. 6.Encourage
individual responsibility for exploration,
self-directed learning and action
planning. 7.Develop a learning relationship,
empathise.