This document discusses several theories of experiential learning including those proposed by Kolb, Knowles, Mezirow, Tough, Dewey, Lewin, Piaget, Jung, Freire and others. It outlines Kolb's model of experiential learning and the four stages of his learning cycle. It also notes that critics argue Kolb's theory is too rigid and lacks evidence from other tools. The document aims to explain experiential learning theories to participants.

1. Rebecca Taylor
Walden University
EDUC 8101-01

2. 1. Everyone sit with your hands in your lap.
2. Starting with all 10 fingers, each time
someone says an activity (i.e. skydiving,
snorkeling, knitting, etc.).
3. Each time someone says something you
have done, curl one finger into your palm.
4. The last person with at least one finger left
in play.

3. ◦ Participants will be able to explain
experiential learning to others
◦ Participants will be able to discuss one time
in which they recognize experiential
learning taking place

4.  Confucius (551—479 BCE) is best known as a
keeper of the old traditions, rather than an
innovator or radical thinker of new
knowledge.
 Socrates (469—399 BCE) was best known for
encouraging his students to question
everything and to make a decision based on
their own understanding.
 Aristotle (384-322 BCE) became the tutor for
Phillip of Macedonia’s son, Alexander, who
would later become “Alexander the Great”.

5.  Andragogy is a term Malcolm Knowles used
to describe how adults learned differently
than children.
 Knowles claimed there were six assumptions
to be made about adult learners.

6. These include:
a) adults learn when situations arise in which
additional learning will be helpful;
b) adults learn when the education is
centered on necessary life skills;
c) experience forms the basis of the best
learning;

7.  d) adults want to be integral players in their
learning, rather than repositories for
information;
 e) differences among adult learning needs
increase as adults age; and
 f) that adults’ desire to learn is internally
motivated.

8. Jack Mezirow states that learning is a “process
of using a prior interpretation to construe a
new or revised interpretation of the meaning of
one's experience in order to guide future
action”1.
This type of learning occurs when one’s beliefs
or “meaning scheme” changes due to new
information and ideas1. These changes may
occur quickly, or take place over a longer
period of time1.

9. Allen Tough, an adult learning theorist, built
on the work of Malcolm Knowles’ andragogy.
In his work, he outlined three linear goals of
self-directed learning.
1. to enhance one’s ability to direct his/her
own learning1.
2. to “foster transformational learning as
central” 1.
3. to promote independent learning.

10. Educational theorists influencing the
Experiential Learning Theory:
 John Dewey
 Kurt Lewin
 Jean Piaget
 Carl Jung
 Paulo Freire
 David Kolb2

11. David A. Kolb was born in 1939, and
became Professor of Organizational
Behavior in the Weatheread School of
Management in 1976. “He has an
interest in the nature of individual and
social change, experiential learning,
career development and executive and
professional education” 2

12. Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory:

13. Similar to Knowles’ six steps to andragogy,
that were discussed earlier, Kolb also had steps
to his experiential theory.
1. Learning should be viewed as an ongoing
process rather than a process that has an
endpoint or “outcome” 2
2. “All learning is relearning,” 2 it encourages
students to restudy their previously held
beliefs and ideas so they can be either
incorporated with new knowledge or be cast
aside as outdated and old-fashioned.

14. 3. When one is learning, they must “move
back and forth between opposing modes of
reflection and action and feeling and
thinking”
4. Learning involves one’s entire being; it
involves “thinking, feeling, perceiving, and
behaving”
5. Learning results from the give-and-take
interactions between the environment and
the student
6. “Learning is the process of creating
knowledge” 2

15. Learning theorists, Richard Freedman and
Stephen Stumpf have argued since the 1970s
that Kolb’s theory of the Learning Style
Inventory was too rigid, speculative and lacked
enough supporting evidence from other
reliable tools.

16.  What types of experiences do you consider not
genuinely or equally educational?
 Kolb’s theory of experiential learning does not
account for the learner’s “biography”, and
according to some critics, leaves the
experience and reflection to exist in a
“vacuum”; why is it vital to includes the context
of a person’s experience in order to learn from
it?
 With whom do you agree; Kolb or his critics?
Why?

17. “Many people make the mistake of
confusing information with knowledge.
They are not the same thing.
Knowledge involves the interpretation
of information. Knowledge involves
listening.”
-Hanning Mankell
The Art of Listening

18. Anonymous (2005). Aristotle (384-322 BCE). Internet Encylopedia
of Philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/aristotl/
Baumgartner, L., Caffarella, R., & Merriam, S. (2007). Learning in
adulthood: A comprehensive guide (3rd ed). Jossey-Bass: San
Francisco.
Boyatzis, R., Kolb, D., & Mainemelis, C. (2002). Learning styles and
adaptive flexibility: Testing experiential learning theory.
Management Learning, 33(1) p. 5-33. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Freedman, R. & Stumpf, S. (1980). Learning style theory: Less than
meets the eye. The Academy of Management Review (5)3. p. 445-
447. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model [image]. Retrieved from
http://www.ilough-
lab.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62&Ite
mid=69

19. Nails, D. (2009). Socrates. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Retrieved from
http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2010/entries/socrates/
Mankell, H. (2011). The art of listening. New York Times, (SR)4.
Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/opinion/sunday/in-africa-
the-art-of-
listening.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=the%20art%20of%20listening&st=c
se
Richey, J. (2005). Confucius (551—479 BCE). Internet Encylopedia
of Philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/confuciu/
Smith, M. K. (2001). David A. Kolb on experiential learning: The
encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved from
http://www.infed.org/b-explrn.htm