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| David A Kolb |
Best known for Experiential Learning Theory (ELT)
"The process
whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.
Knowledge results from the combinations of grasping and transforming
experience."
Brief Biography:
David Kolb was born in 1939. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1961 from Knox College. He then went on to earn his Ph.D. in social psychology
from Harvard University. Today, he is a Professor of Organizational
Behavior in the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve
University.
Career:
Kolb is an American psychologist and educational
theorist. He is perhaps best known for his research on experiential
learning and learning styles. According to Kolb, experiential learning
is a process by which knowledge results from different combinations of
grasping and transforming experiences. We can grasp experience two
different ways; through concrete experience and abstract
conceptualization. We can then transform experience in two ways; through
reflective observation or active experimentation. This process is often
portrayed as a cycle.
Kolb's theory of experiential learning also
serves as the basis for his four learning styles. Each of the four
learning styles is characterized by strengths in two of the four major
steps of the learning cycle. People with a converging learning style
prefer to learning through abstract conceptualization and active
experimentation. Those with a diverging learning style prefer concrete
experience and reflective observation. The assimilating style is
associated with abstract conceptualization and reflective observation,
while the accommodating learning style is linked to concrete experience
and active experimentation. While learning styles remain a fairly controversial and oft-debated area
within psychology and education, Kolb's theory has emerged as one of
the most popular and widely used.
Selected Publications:
Selected Publications:
- Kolb, A. Y., Kolb, D. A. (2011). Kolb Learning Style Inventory 4.0 Boston MA: Hay Group.
- Kolb, A. Y., Kolb, D. A. (2010). Learning to play, playing to learn : A case study of a ludic learning space (1 ed., vol. 23, pp. 26-50). Journal of Organizational Change Management.
- Kolb, A. Y., Kolb, D. A. (2009). In Armstrong, S. J. & Fukami, C. (Ed.), Experiential learning theory: A dynamic, holistic approach to management learning, education and development (pp. 50). London: Sage Publications Handbook of Management Learning, Education and Development..
- Kolb, D. A., Boyatzis, R. E., & Mainemelis, C. (2000). Experiential Learning Theory: Previous Research and New Directions. In Perspectives on cognitive, learning, and thinking styles. Sternberg & Zhang (Eds.). NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
