Learning Styles Theory
Learning style can be defined as the usual or characteristic
manner in which a learner goes about the task of learning
(More 1987). There are various approaches to learning style
that can be described as processes on a continuum. Theses
approaches are not mutually exclusive; they represent different
ways of viewing complex phenomena.
Among these processes are:
(a) global/analytical (More 1984)
(b) impulsive/reflective (More 1976)
(c) field dependence/field independence (Witkin et
al.1977)
(d) simultaneous/sequential processing (Kirby 1984)
As style is concerned with very complex issues involving
cognition, conceptualization, affect, and behavior (Guild &
Gerger 1985), it is not surprising that various learning-style
models exist. Each model typically focuses on a single aspect
within this multidimensional set of factors (Guild & Gerger
1985). Given the diverse learning-style models and
instruments (Keefe, et al. 1979), a model that is sought has apractical as well as conceptual value. Kolb's experimentallearning
model meets both requirements because of the
availability of an excellent classroom application of the model
by Bernice McCarthy (1980) in the 4MAT System: Teaching
to Learning Styles with Right/Left Mode Techniques.
Kolb (1984) acknowledges that his theory is eclectic, and
that its applications are drawn from the work of John Dewey,
Kurt Lewin, Carl Jung, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. He
states further that "learning styles are the result of our
hereditary equipment, our particular past life experiences and
the demands of present environment." Kolb found that "it is
the combination of how people perceive and how people
process that forms the uniqueness of 'learning style'-the most
comfortable way to learn". By combining two dimensions of
concrete experience and abstract conceptualization ("how we
perceive") with two dimensions of active experimentation and
reflective observation ("how we process"), Kolb established
four categories of learning styles based on four learning modes
(Kolb 1984).
According to Kolb, effective learning involves four phases:
from getting involved (Concrete Experience) to
listening/observing (Reflective Observation) to creating an
idea (Abstract Conceptualization) to making decisions (Active
Experimentation). (See Figure 1.) A person may become
better at some of these learning skills than others; as a result, a
learning style develops.