The Kolb Learning Cycle

In this post Kel and I will be talking about the Kolb learning cycle, after our lecture on it at Cat Hill campus.
We went through various different exercises to help us understand the cycle, which was created by David Kolb in order to help and inspire reflective learning. One of the task that we were assigned to do was take extracts from other people blogs, this was completely anonymous, we had no idea who had written the extracts, we then cut the extracts up into sentences and put them into the relevant Kolb cycle sections.

Kolb says that ideally (and by inference not always) this process represents a learning cycle or spiral where the learner 'touches all the bases', ie., a cycle of experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting. Immediate or concrete experiences lead to observations and reflections. These reflections are then assimilated (absorbed and translated) into abstract concepts with implications for action, which the person can actively test and experiment with, which in turn enable the creation of new experiences.

Active Experimentation: Feeling/ Doing/ Thinking.
Concrete Experience: Feeling/ Watching/ Doing.
Reflective Observation: Watch/ Thinking/ Feeling.
Abstract Conceptualisation: Watch/ Thinking/ Doing.

David Kolb's Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (1984) theorized that four combinations of perceiving and processing determine four learning styles that make up a learning cycle. According to Kolb, the learning cycle involves four processes that must be present for learning to occur:
• Activist - Active Experimentation (simulations, case study, homework). What's new? I'm game for anything. Training approach - Problem solving, small group discussions, peer feedback, and homework all helpful; trainer should be a model of a professional, leaving the learner to determine her own criteria for relevance of materials.
• Reflector - Reflective Observation (logs, journals, brainstorming). I'd like time to think about this. Training approach - Lectures are helpful; trainer should provide expert interpretation (taskmaster/guide); judge performance by external criteria.
• Theorist - Abstract Conceptualization (lecture, papers, analogies). How does this relate to that? Training approach - Case studies, theory readings and thinking alone helps; almost everything else, including talking with experts, is not helpful.
• Pragmatist - Concrete Experience (laboratories, field work, observations). How can I apply this in practice? Training approach - Peer feedback is helpful; activities should apply skills; trainer is coach/helper for a self-directed autonomous learner.
I find that as I am keeping a reflective diary about work, and also relevant activities that happened during my day, I am able to use the Kolb learning cycle to put my diary entry’s into different categories, I find most times I will be taking about my experience that day, and be thinking to myself how would that help me in my very day practice? I will look though my notes and find similar references, sometimes the experience I have had has not always worked to it is a matter of thinking about, how and what do I do to improve and make it better for next time? Looking into the learning cycle a little bit more has made me learn to appreciate how I handle reflecting on my day or week.