Using the Kolb LSI to Reach Every Student

Hurst-Wajszczuk, K. (2010). Do They Really Get It? Using the Kolb LSI to Reach Every Student. Journal Of Singing, 66(4), 421-427.

Tiscornia, Chole'

 

Summary

 

This article explores David A. Kolb’s research and its practical application for teachers of singing and voice-related subjects. The writer, Kristine Hurst-Wajszczuk, was involved in the Graduate Teacher Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder that uses Videotape Consultation as a tool to teach graduate students who are new teachers. The Videotape Consultation method was developed with Kolb’s learning experiences in mind, taken from Kolb and Roger Fry’s Theory of Experiential Learning (1974). Kolb and Fry assert that the heart of all learning lies in how we process experience, and that there are two learning activities at work: perceiving and processing. Accordingly, these two activities work together or in sequence several times throughout the learning experience. The four processes of Kolb’s learning theory are: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Kolb asserts that learners step into the process at either stage I (concrete experience) or stage II (reflective observation) but move in a clockwise direction through all four stages. Hurst-Wajszczuk found however, through her own observations, that learners may enter the learning cycle at any point and proceed in any order, but agrees that all four processes must be experienced for successful learning. The article continues to explain the four quadrants that Kolb calls Learning Style Inventory (LSI) also known as preferences: accommodator or pragmatist (product); diverger or reflector (heart); converger or activist (questioner); and assimilator or theorist (equation). The article finishes with examples of how to apply this knowledge to a classroom or studio.

 

Evaluation

The article helps to provide insight into the efficacy of Kolb’s learning theories, first in graduate students’ own education training; second via the author’s own experience and observations; and finally through a specific class curriculum. The class used to apply Kolb’s theory is a voice class. It provides examples of application of the learning theories in a clear, concise method; if however brief. This article helped me to further understand the applicability of learning theories in a classroom setting. It also helped further my own self-evaluation of the theories.

 

Additional Reference:

Kolb, D. A., & Fry, R. E. (1974). Toward an applied theory of experiential learning. Cambridge, Mass: M.I.T. Alfred P. Sloan School of Management.