Biography of Psychologist David Kolb

David Kolb is a psychologist and educational theorist who is perhaps best known for his theory of experiential learning. In addition to developing a theory that outlined how experiential learning takes place, Kolb is also known for his learning style inventory that remains quite popular among educators today. His main contributions to the field of psychology include:

• Experiential learning theory
• Kolb's learning styles
• Kolb's learning style inventory

Brief Biography of David Kolb

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 Emeritus Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

Career and Theories

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 in two different ways; through concrete experience and abstract conceptualization. People can then transform experience in two ways; through reflective observation or active experimentation. This process is often portrayed as a cycle:

• Concrete experience: This is when you have the actual experience in question.
• Reflective observation: Naturally, this is your reflection of the experience, where you begin to attempt an understanding of it.
• Abstract conceptualization: At this stage of the cycle, you are learning from the experience and beginning to apply ideas from your observation.
• Active experimentation: This is the fun part—you now get to test everything you've learned in the previous steps out in the world. Successful learning occurs when you have applied this cycle for future use in ways you didn't know at the beginning of the 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.
• 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.

Other Learning Styles

Of course, Kolb's theory represents just one set of ideas around how we learn. There are many other theories that have presented in the history of psychology, including the following ideas which have also enjoyed some measure of popularity in the field:

• VARK learning styles: This theory, introduced by Neil Fleming, posits that learners are identified by a preference for either visual, auditory, reading and writing, or kinesthetic learning.
• Jungian learning styles: Based on Jung's theory of personality, these styles are extraverted, introverted, sensory, intuitive, feeling, thinking, judging, and perceiving.

Broader theories of learning in psychology include Albert Bandura's theories of observational learning, Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, and BF Skinner's theory of conditioning.

Selected Publications

Below you can find a number of articles and books written by Kolb over his distinguished career in the field of experiential learning.

• 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. 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.