HCBE Faculty Articles

Assessing Experiential Learning Styles: A Methodological Reconstruction and Validation of the Kolb Learning Style Inventory

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Learning and Individual Differences

ISSN

1873-3425

Publication Date

2013

Abstract/Excerpt

To understand experiential learning, many have reiterated the need to be able to identify students' learning styles. Kolb's Learning Style Model is the most widely accepted learning style model and has received a substantial amount of empirical support. Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI), although one of the most widely utilized instruments to measure individual learning styles, possesses serious weaknesses. This study transforms the LSI from a type (categorical measure) to a degree (continuous measure) style of learning style measure that is not only more parsimonious but is also easier to use than the existing LSI. Two separate studies using samples of engineering and computer science graduate students (Study 1) and undergraduate and graduate students pursuing quantitative degrees (Study 2) culminating in a corroborative multi-sample validation were employed, producing a methodologically sound option to the existing LSI. Implications for future research and guidance for learning and teaching methods are discussed.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.10.009

Volume

23

Issue

1

First Page

44

Last Page

52

Peer Reviewed

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