Kolb's Theories On Learning Styles example essay topic

In this essay we are going to research learning styles. We will use such sources as the internet, text books and journals to help us to bring together the thoughts of the theorist on the subject. Using the information from the theorist we will show that we have an understanding of the theories by describing our own learning styles. We will also compare the similarities and differences in our own personal styles and how we can help each other to develop our learning styles during our studies To help us understand the process of learning we have researched and studied three different author's comments, theories and general ideas about learning styles. These three key ideas are from David Kolb, Honey and Mumford and Craik and Lockhart.

Firstly we looked at Kolb's theories on learning styles. Kolb looks upon learning as a continuous process (Cameron, 2003). When a person performs an action, they reflect on that action and think about what just happened. They will then take apart that idea and think about the concepts and theories behind this process. Finally a person will act out the experience having learnt from the reflection and theorise stages. As shown in Fig 1.1 this process will then start over again and a skill or an understanding will become more developed as the loop repeats itself.

Fig 1.1 Learning as a continuous process (Adapted from Cameron, 2003) If, for any reason, a stage in the cycle was skipped, learning will be less effective. If a process is always carried out without any thought or reflection, the person will never fully understand or be able to use that skill or idea. Without the thought process a person would be taught nothing and will never be able to do anything better. Other authors have backed up Kolb's idea of the learning cycle. Edmund Husserl (1963) said if you think you know, you should look again (Brew, 1993). Kolb developed this theory to another level expressing that people tend to be better at one stage than another, he grouped these people.

There are four groups in this model. o Concrete experience - Learning from specific experiences, relating to people, and sensitivity to feelings and people. o Reflective observation- Careful observation before making a judgement, viewing things from different perspectives, and looking for the meaning of things. o Abstract conceptualization Logical analysis of ideas, systematic planning, acting on intellectual understanding of a situation. o Active experimentation - Ability to get things done, risk taking, influence people and events through action. (Algonquin, 1996) Honey and Mumford agreed with Kolb's theories but again felt that people tended to be more effective at one or two stages. They recognized four different learning styles. Activists o Hands on o Love new experiences o Get bored easily o Highly sociable o Love group decisions o Bring lots of energy o Activists cannot do things that require a lot of consolidation Reflectors o Thinks About all aspects and angles o Low profile in discussions o Cautious o Observer of others o Like to plan first o Reflectors may plan so much and run out of time for action Theorists o Logical o Analytical o Synthesizing o Take rational approach o Love complex problems o Need lots of information o Theorists find it hard to apply their ideas to situations Pragmatists o Love new ideas o Love putting ideas into practice o Enjoy skills development o Need feedback o Pragmatists tend to leap into situations with first ideas (Cameron, 2003) Honey and Mumford feel that these descriptions and personalities can be used to assist and benefit people learning. Once a person knows what they are, they can concentrate more on their weaknesses, e.g. if an activist knew about his weaknesses then he could work more on logical and analytical ideas.

Levels of Processing by Craik and Lockhart focuses on the idea that the more detailed something is or the deeper thought process the easier it is learnt. e.g. when two people meet, if only names are exchanged, they will be easily forgotten. If they engage in conversation and find out more detail about someone they will remember them for longer. This theory is based on the fact that the brain carries out two types of process, these are maintenance and elaborative. Maintenance processing: holds information active at a given level of analysis. This has no effect on trace persistence. Elaborative processing: increases "depth" of analysis.

This leads to longer lasting memory traces (Schmidt, 2000) By using elaborative processing learning is made easier because there is more depth. Deep thought and elaborative processing leads to increased activation of the left inferior prefrontal cortex. (See fig 1.2) This is part of the brain that controls memory and therefore learning. These theories mean that people have strengths and weaknesses that all depend on context, depth, detail and the type of information. We have assessed how these theories affect us and compared our styles including how we work together. Fig. 2.1 Results of Honey and Mumford questionnaire The results from Honey and Mumford questionnaire (fig. 2.1) showed that Callum is an activist and pragmatist.

This shows that he would prefer a more practical way of learning and would find it a sustained effort to sit through lectures because of the need to get on with the activity straight away. Therefore Callum should take notes and have regular short breaks to keep focused. Taking notes in lectures will help Callum in his learning. When he performs the task he will have processed the information and instead of jumping into any idea straight away the thought process will already have started. Being an activist and pragmatist, Callum will produce lots of good ideas but needs to make sure he considers them carefully and does not use the first idea he comes up with. Callum was kinaesthetic on the VAK (visual, auditory and kinaesthetic) questionnaire.

This backs up the results in the Honey and Mumford questionnaire showing that Callum would prefer the more practical methods. If we look at Kolb's learning loop (fig 1.1) we can see that Callum would go through the stages of reflect and theorise very quickly so that he can take longer performing the action. We can assume this because Callum had very strong results on both the Honey and Mumford and VIA questionnaires as being an activist and pragmatist. Callum would assess the feedback quite thoroughly and then perform action again using experience gained. According to all the information gathered Callum would not be helped by Craik and Lockhart's levels of processing theory. Because of his physical, hands on approach he would not wait to listen to more depth and detail.

Callum's brain carries out more maintenance processing and because this processes at a very low level the memory traces will be shorter. From the Honey and Mumford questionnaire theory Luke's results (fig 2.1) formed a square, this showed that he had more of an all round learning style. Therefore he will benefit from every area and have some of the good points from each. When learning a new skill he will want to rush out and use it but will think about it first. This can be seen as good and bad because he will have an all round learning style but will not have a strong learning style. This means that Luke should sometimes work on the pragmatist skills more because that is his strongest.

From Kolb's learning loop (fig 1.1) we can see that Luke would go through the stages slower than Callum because of his all round learning style. We assume this due to the results from the Honey and Mumford questionnaire. Luke's learning process will take longer but will have more chance of getting right first time. Luke was kinaesthetic on the VAK (visual, auditory and kinaesthetic) questionnaire.

He is very rounded in his learning style but will tend to learn from experience and testing more than others. Luke's level of processing will be fairly detailed but he will mainly use maintenance processing because of his kinaesthetic approach to learning. This processing reduces the chance of learning. We compared our learning styles and feel our styles compliment each other for pair and group work. From our findings we can see that Callum will produce lots of ideas but will rush into the task rather than reflecting and theorising. Luke will control Callum's activist approach and prevent him rushing into decisions, he will make him reflect and theorise before action is taken.

To conclude, everyone's learning style is different. There is no right or wrong answer to learning styles, these can only be decided for the individual and preferences often vary. The information found will help us both in our studies. We know what stimuli are needed and will be able to work together knowing that our styles will give good results.