Innovate: Preparing e-Learning Designers Using Kolb’s Model o...

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Influenced by Dewey, Lewin, and Piaget, Kolb (1984) conceptualizes learning from experience in terms of four components, each of which requires learners to invoke specific abilities: Concrete experience draws on the learner's willingness to experience new things; reflective observation requires an ability to consider experiences from a variety of perspectives in order to find meaning; abstract conceptualization requires an ability to analyze and integrate new ideas and concepts, drawing logical conclusions through reflective consideration of new experiences; and active experimentation requires learners to apply new learning to practice, problem solving, and decision making, which leads to new concrete experiences (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner 2006). These abilities are integrated into phases of a cyclical process referred to as the experiential learning cycle (Figure 1). Within the cycle each of these four components entails its own distinctive process for the learner:

1. Experiencing (concrete experience): The learner begins with an experience of a concept or situation.
2. Examining (reflective observation): The learner considers and examines the new experience from a variety of perspectives in order to find meaning.
3. Explaining (abstract conceptualization): The learner looks for patterns, builds concepts, and tests theories, considering what was learned and drawing logical conclusions about its future implications.
4. Applying (active experimentation): The learner draws upon previous insights to make decisions and apply concepts to new concrete experiences (Bolan 2003; Kolb 1984; Svinicki and Dixon 1987).

The learning cycle may also be understood in terms of grasping and transforming experience; the grasping aspect of the cycle is represented by the activities of experiencing and explaining, and the transforming aspect of the learning cycle is represented by the activities of examining and applying (Kolb, Boyatzis, and Mainemelis 2000). In other words, there are two dimensions of the learning process. The vertical dimension—concrete experience to abstract conceptualization—represents learning from direct experience or from abstractions. The horizontal dimension—reflective observation to active experimentation—represents learning that occurs through reflecting on the experience or acting on the conclusions that have been drawn from the experience (Svinicki and Dixon 1987). The bottom line is that experiential learning emphasizes doing the task in order to learn it, which is a very context-based approach to the learning experience (Hansman 2001).

Describing how experiential learning—and Kolb's model, in particular—can be used in instructional design, Svinicki and Dixon (1987) propose that certain commonly used teaching and instructional activities can support different phases of the cycle. They provide the following examples:

• To foster concrete experience, instructors can employ readings, examples, or laboratories.
• To foster reflective observation, instructors can assign journals, discussions, and brainstorming activities.
• To foster abstract conceptualization, instructors can provide model-building activities, assign papers, or deliver specialized lectures.
• To foster active experimentation, instructors can incorporate simulations, case studies, fieldwork, or final projects.

In this way, Kolb’s model provides a functional framework for selecting and sequencing learning activities that support students as they learn from experience while working on a context-rich, real-world project.

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