of abstract concepts, and ending with testing in new situations (Smith; see below).
The sequence of the elements does not vary, but the model offers the flexibility of beginning at any one of the four points in the cycle (Smith).
KolbÆs experiential learning model (ELM) ôdepicts learning as a cycle that consists of four learning modes: concrete experience (CE), reflective observation (RO), abstract conceptualization (AC), and active experimentation (AE) (Terry, 68). Kolb depicts the learning modes, or learning style preferences, as bisecting axes with opposing modes at each end: CE (feeling) versus AC (thinking) and AE (doing) versus RO (watching), with the east-west axis designated as the way we approach a task (the Processing Continuum) and the north-south axis as the way we think or feel about it (the Perception Continuum) (Chapman; Appendix I).
This model can be apprehended in two ways, as a four-stage cycle that progresses from CE to RO to AC to AE, or as a definition of four types of learning styles, the diverging (CE/RO), assimilating (AC/RO), converging (AC/AE), and accommodating (CE/AE). Another way of modeling this is to present it as a set of options to ôdo or watchö and ôthink or feel:
The result of these two decisions produces (and helps to form throughout our lives) the preferred learning styleàWe choose a way of ôgrasping the experience,ö which defines our approach to it, and we choose a way to ôtransform the experience,ö into something meaningful and usable, which defines our emotional response to the experience. Our learning style is a product of these two choice decisions (Chapman; see below).
Based on his experiential learning models, Kolb developed a learning styles inventory (LSI) that enables individuals to determine what their preferred mode of experiential learning isùdiverging, assimilating, converging, or accommodating (Cross & Faulkner; see below). A study involving 66 Cana...