Kolb Learning Styles
David Kolb published his learning styles model in “Experiential Learning: Experience As The Source Of Learning And Development” (1984). It offers both a way to understand individual people's different learning styles, and also an explanation of a cycle of experiential learning that applies to us all
Kolb's learning theory sets out four distinct learning styles (or preferences), which are based on a four-stage learning cycle. The cycle could start with 'immediate or concrete experiences', which provide a basis for 'observations and reflections'. These 'observations and reflections' are assimilated and distilled into 'abstract concepts' producing new implications for action which can be 'actively tested' in turn creating new experiences.
Kolb says that ideally (not always) this process represents a learning cycle or spiral where the learner 'touches all the bases', a cycle of experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting.
Kolb's learning cycle is:
Concrete Experience (CE)
Reflective Observation (RO)
Abstract Conceptualization (AC)
Active Experimentation (AE)
It also implied four different learning styles, for which Kolb used the terms:
Diverging CE/RO
Assimilating AC/RO
Converging AC/AE
Accommodating CE/AE
