Experiential Learning

Experiential learning is a powerful and proven approach to teaching and learning that is based on one incontrovertible reality: people learn best through experience. Now, in this extensively updated book, David A. Kolb offers a systematic and up-to-date statement of the theory of experiential learning and its modern applications to education, work, and adult development.

Experiential Learning, Second Edition builds on the intellectual origins of experiential learning as defined by figures such as John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, Jean Piaget, and L.S. Vygotsky, while also reflecting three full decades of research and practice since the classic first edition.

Kolb models the underlying structures of the learning process based on the latest insights in psychology, philosophy, and physiology. Building on his comprehensive structural model, he offers an exceptionally useful typology of individual learning styles and corresponding structures of knowledge in different academic disciplines and careers. Kolb also applies experiential learning to higher education and lifelong learning, especially with regard to adult education.

This edition reviews recent applications and uses of experiential learning, updates Kolb's framework to address the current organizational and educational landscape, and features current examples of experiential learning both in the field and in the classroom. It will be an indispensable resource for everyone who wants to promote more effective learning: in higher education, training, organizational development, lifelong learning environments, and online.

Autorentext

David A. Kolb is the Chairman of Experience Based Learning Systems (EBLS), an organization that he founded in 1980 to advance research and practice on experiential learning. EBLS conducts basic research on Experiential Learning Theory and has developed many experiential exercises and self-assessment instruments including the latest Kolb Learning Style Inventory 4.0. The EBLS program of research on experiential learning is ongoing in collaboration with an international network of researchers, practitioners and learning partners.

He received his BA in psychology, philosophy, and religion at Knox College and his Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard University. He was a professor of organizational behavior and management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, where he is currently Emeritus Professor of Organizational Behavior.

He is best known for his research on experiential learning and learning styles described in this book, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Other books include Conversational Learning: An Experiential Approach to Knowledge Creation, Innovation in Professional Education: Steps on a Journey from Teaching to Learning, and Organizational Behavior: An Experiential Approach. In addition, he has authored many journal articles and book chapters on experiential learning.

David A. Kolb has received several research recognition awards and four honorary degrees recognizing his contributions to experiential learning in higher education.

For more information about his work, go to www.learningfromexperience.com.

Inhalt

Foreword x

About the Author xii

Preface xiii

Introduction xvi

Part I Experience and Learning

Chapter 1 The Foundations of Contemporary Approaches to Experiential Learning 1

Experiential Learning in Higher Education: The Legacy of John Dewey 4

Experiential Learning in Training and Organization Development: The Contributions of Kurt Lewin 8

Jean Piaget and the Cognitive-Development Tradition of Experiential Learning 12

Other Contributions to Experiential Learning Theory 15

Update and Reflections 19

Foundational Scholars of Experiential Learning Theory 19

Liminal Scholars 20

Contributions to Experiential Learning 23

Chapter 2 The Process of Experiential Learning 31

Three Models of the Experiential Learning Process 32

Characteristics of Experiential Learning 37

Summary: A Definition of Learning 49

Update and Reflections 50

The Learning Cycle and the Learning Spiral 50

Understanding the Learning Cycle 50

The Learning Spiral 61

Part II The Structure of Learning and Knowledge

Chapter 3 Structural Foundations of the Learning Process 65

Process and Structure in Experiential Learning 66

The Prehension Dimension-Apprehension Versus Comprehension 69

The Transformation Dimension-Intention and Extension 77

Summary 85

Update and Reflections 87

Experiential Learning and the Brain 87

James Zull and the Link between the Learning Cycle and Brain Functioning 88

My Brain Made Me Do It? 94

Chapter 4 Individuality in Learning and the Concept of Learning Styles 97

The Scientific Study of Individuality 98

Learning Styles as Possibility-Processing Structures 100

Assessing Individual Learning Styles: The Learning Style Inventory 104

Evidence for the Structure of Learning 111

Characteristics of the Basic Learning Styles 114

Summary and Conclusion 135

Update and Reflections 137

Individuality, the Self, and Learning Style 137

Western and Eastern Views of the Self 138

Experiential Learning and the Self 139

Learning Style 141

Chapter 5 The Structure of Knowledge 153

Apprehension vs Comprehension-A Dual-Knowledge Theory 154

The Dialectics of Apprehension and Comprehension 159

The Structure of Social Knowledge: World Hypotheses 164

Summary 173

Social Knowledge as Living Systems of Inquiry-The Relation between the Structure of Knowledge and Fields of Inquiry and Endeavor 175

Update and Reflections 186

The Spiral of Knowledge Creation 186

Personal Characteristics and Ways of Knowing 188

Knowledge Structures and Disciplinary Learning Spaces 190

The knowledge Structures of Experiential Learning 192

Part III Learning and Development

Chapter 6 The Experiential Learning Theory of Development 197

Learning and Development as Transactions between Person and Environment 198

Differentiation and Integration in Development 199

Unilinear vs Multilinear Development 201

The Experiential Learning Theory of Development 205

Consciousness, Learning, and Development 210

Adaptation, Consciousness, and Development 216

Update and Reflections 225

Culture and Context 226

Individual Differences and Multilinear Development 227

Integration and Advanced Stages of Adult Development 228

Implications for Experiential Learning Theory Development Theory 234

Chapter 7 Learning and Development in Higher Education 239

Specialized Development and the Process of Accentuation 242

Undergraduate Student Development in a Technological University 244

Professional Education and Career Adaptation 261

A Comparative Study of Professional Education in Social Work and Engineering 263

Managing the Learning Process 276

Implications for Higher Education 283

Update and Reflections 287

Becoming an Experiential Educator 287

Chapter 8 Lifelong Learning and Integrative Development 311

Adaptive Flexibility and Integrative Development 315

On Integrity and Integrative Knowledge 327

Update and Reflections 333

Lifelong Learning and the Learning Way 333

Bibliography 355

Index 377