That’s just the way he is

Kolb’s four learning styles

Do you prefer to listen to books on tape or do you need to do a hands-on experiment in order to jump into a lesson? Would you rather read a book or watch a movie and discuss it? Do you like to daydream? Recognizing one’s own learning style, or recognizing the learning style of those whom one is teaching can make the difference between “wow” and “blah.” Even the most dynamic activities will not have the same impact for everybody.

David Kolb sets up two learning axes: feeling-thinking and doing-watching. The feeling-thinking axis is known as the processing continuum. This has to do with the way we process information. Are we more inclined to be feeling or thinking? The doing-watching axis is the perception continuum and has to do with our way of seeing the world. Do we like to get involved and get our hands dirty or do we propose to look on from afar?

The combination of the two axes, or these four terms, leads to the creation of four quadrants which describe four learning styles.

	Active Experimentation (Doing)	Reflective Observation (Watching)
Concrete Experience (Feeling)	Accommodating (CE/AE)	Diverging (CE/RO)
Abstract Conceptualization (Thinking)	Converging (AC/AE)	Assimilating (AC/RO)

Each student can fall generally speaking into one of the four learning styles. Kolb posits that one does not normally engage in the two opposites of the processing or perception continuum at the same time. Being able to recognize the activity one is requiring of the students will help to make sure that there is an effective learning methodology being applied. One interesting addition to the theory came from a video on 4MAT learning. Here it says that the diverging learning style is characterized by the question “why?”, while the assimilating learning style is characterized by the question “what?”. “How?” is a favorite question for the converging learning style while the accommodating learning style prefers “if?”.

One of my uncles used to say that the burden of a good communication falls on the one communicating. If a teacher sees that the class is not getting the material, it is important to take a step back and see if there is anything he can do to increase comprehension. Generally speaking, students like to learn from somebody who cares about them. A great sign of caring for them is to take the time to learn their learning styles.

The different learning styles end up being complementary and this is why there are engineers, doctors and artists in the world. Each may have genius in his own way, without necessarily exhausting the types of genius of the rest of people.

Today, we looked at the four learning styles presented by David Kolb. It is worth checking out. Feel free to let me know what you think. For more information, you can check out: https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html

Could I have your attention please?

Could I have your attention please?

Kolb’s four learning styles

Do you ever feel you are competing for your students' attention? Nowadays, it seems that teachers have to struggle more and more in order to get their students to focus. Have you ever heard of different learning styles? Getting to know learning styles can be an important step in achieving a deeper self-knowledge: something key in order to get along well in life.

David Kolb is an educational psychologist who affirms that “learning is a process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.” He is known for having broken down learning into a four-stage cycle of learning on the one hand, and four separate learning styles on the other.

Getting to know Kolb’s theory can help teachers and students develop learning in a more organic and efficient manner.

Kolb emphasizes the importance of the experiential learning cycle. There are four elements that are experienced in a cyclical manner, even if the order can be changed up without causing too much damage. There is concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation.

An example may help to understand. The concrete experience is coming into contact with a new experience. For example, students may arrive to the classroom and find that all the books have fallen off the shelf onto the floor. The contrast from the ordinary situation that they find in the classroom serves as a stimulus to their imagination and gets them thinking.

Reflective observation can be guided. By asking the right questions, the teacher is able to make them think about why and how the books have moved from their place on the shelf to the floor. At this stage of the game, the outcome is not fixed. If the teacher wishes to give a lesson on the movements of the earth’s plates, he can begin by speaking about the power of an earthquake. If he desires to give a lesson in anger management, this might serve as an example of what could happen when someone’s emotions take control of him.

Abstract conceptualization brings the data into a new context, giving the theory that is to be imparted. This is the concept-heavy section of learning. Most teachers spend most of their time here, perhaps unaware of the fact that without the previous and the following step, their efforts may be only partially rewarded. Now, perhaps the student is better able to understand the phenomenon of earthquakes.

Active experimentation has the learner applying his new knowledge to his own world. Through the joy of learning, his world somehow becomes bigger. Now, the student can reflect on earthquake safety or look into how earthquakes affect engineering. His own curiosity serves as a motor for the next stage of learning.

Here, we have seen the four stages the experiential learning cycle. In the near future, we will look at the four learning styles discovered by David Kolb. For more information, you can check out: https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html