Kolb’s, Piaget’s, and Lewin’s Change Theories Comparison

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Change Theory Matrix

Change Theories
Behaviourism	Kolb’s experiential	Carl Roger’s Humanist

Purpose of the change model	To focus on and learn from what is directly observable	Learning from experience	Learning by oneself with help of facilitator
Historical/political perspective	Idea born as Pavlovian conditioning or classical conditioning by Ivan Pavlov in 1927. Interpreted reflexes in dogs salivating at the sight of the lab technician who fed them as conditioned.	Kolb’s research in 1984 provided the approach	Carl Rogers proposed the humanistic approach or theory of the self, based on the phenomenal field personality theory of Combs and Syngg in 1951
Structure/methodology	Learning is the product of the stimulus conditions (S) and the responses (R) that follow. After a few responses to a conditioned stimulus, the response would occur even with a neutral stimulus.	Learning occurs from one’s own experience, its reflection, forming concepts from what is learned and then actively using the new ideas in practice. Learning could go through many cycles before the learning is complete.	Self-concept is the basis. The facilitator helps the students to achieve their own learning. The student puts in his thoughts and information. Evaluation is also done by the student
Strengths/weakness	The strength is that it is a good method to be used in nursing education. The weakness is that this is a teacher-centred model and can be used to manipulate students. Self-initiative is not encouraged	The strength is that the will to learn is the basis of learning from experience. The weakness is that evaluation of learning is not possible in this model. Transfer of knowledge to workplace situation is also doubtful.	The learner is responsible for his own learning. He is able to incorporate his views into his learning giving him confidence. Able to receive feedback to make the learning process more apt.
Application	Systemic desensitization can be done using this method of conditioning responses to stimuli to reduce fear and anxiety in patients.Also used to reduce untoward responses to chemotherapeutic drugs.	This model can be applied in real life practice where learning is a continuous process. This is especially applicable in professions like nursing where experience and learning from it are integral parts of the practice.	Wide application in student-centred education and client centred- therapy in psychiatry.
Process of implementation	In health education and nursing education first before the health personnel use it in their practice.	The learner is able to use it at his workplace and learn from it. Nurses and health personnel are the people who mostly can implement this model in their practice.	Policy changes can help use this method of education where learners are actively involved. Used in psychiatric practice to help patients come out of their depression.

Adapted from Dunn (2002)

This theory of Kolb’s is developed from Piaget’s and Lewin’s theories (Moon, 2004). It is a four- stage process which is continuous and can begin at any one of the stages of the cycle. The learning situation can go through any number of cycles. Learning through concrete experience in practice proceeds to reflective observation. This then goes onto learning through abstract conceptualisation progressing to learning through active experimentation. Moon (1999a) described the same phases of Kolb’s cycle in her own words. Concrete experience was stated to be the having of the experience. The learner then recognises a need to resolve some problem or issue. Clarification of the problem is then undertaken. Reflective observation was described as reviewing and recollecting and reviewing the emotional state and feelings. Processing the knowledge and ideas that she has gathered, the learner makes a final resolution with a change in attitude and action. The action stage corresponds to the active experimentation stage. Many researchers have worked upon and made slight modifications to Kolb’s cycle.

The ability to progress in learning after an experience is the first issue (Moon, 2004). Transfer of the learning to another context may be an issue; Kolb’s cycle is a closed one. How the learning occurs in a formal context is a possible third one.

Evaluation is necessary to conclude whether the learners really absorbed what was taught by the teacher. In olden days learning what the teacher taught did not produce expected results because evaluation or feedback was not the norm. The evaluation session on the following day is the best manner to get a feedback. The learning process should always have the evaluation session to gauge whether the learners have gained the knowledge in the perspective taught by the teacher. The teacher believes her technique of teaching is right till some day she learns she is not. The evaluation would warn the teacher about her techniques. This evaluation phase is not included in Kolb’s cycle as criticized by Moon (2004). In a lecturing class, when learners are silent, it should never be concluded that the learners have understood all to the desired degree. The learners may be confused and may not realize that they have not understood fully as the teacher wanted them to. The evaluation is necessary for modification of the teacher’s method and for checking the level of change of knowledge of the learner. Deep reflection at different stages of the cycle could change the teacher’s methods and learner’s change or increase in knowledge. Action learning techniques would help shift the individualistic viewpoint of experiential learning to involve others.

Transferring knowledge gained from the educational context to the work situation is a significant issue. Humans are considered to be experts at transferring knowledge, ideas and skill from one setting to another (Bennett, 2000 cited in Moon, 2004). The language of transfer will be instilled in the learners at the educational discourse itself. How best to maximize and facilitate the transfer should be the aim of the teacher and the learner: the expected outcome should be solicited (Moon, 2004).

Effective learning and transfer also requires learning within the same context as the workplace. (Wallace, 1996). Transferring the learning from a different context into a workplace context requires immense effort. Integration of experiential learning into workplace practice could be assisted by short course training (Moon, 2004). The learner has to develop an awareness of his current workplace. Relating the new learning to his work functions after clarifying it is the next step. Then he needs to integrate the two. Using imagination to foresee the nature of an improved practice, the learner finds answers to how he can change his practice (Moon, 2004).

Experiential learning is an experience which is not mediated by a teacher; direct experience forms the material of learning (Moon, 2004). There is an active phase, scope for reflection, some feedback and an intention to learn. The intention to learn need not be found in other daily forms of learning.

The Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory measures the individual learning preferences (Marion, 2001). Nine rows of four alternative adjectives (in homogeneous learning mode columns), which rank from 1 (low) to 4 (high) are found in the inventory (Atkinson, 1991). Redesigning his inventory twice, once in 1985, and then in 1993, Kolb responded to psychometric criticisms (Marion, 2001). The modification in 1985 provided an LSI-II with twelve sentence openings, each of which had four alternative endings, ranked from 1 to 4 by respondents (Kolb, 1985a, 1985b). Homogeneous learning mode columns were found in the 1985 revision, but the LSI-II endings were given in random order in the 1993 revision (Pickworth & Shoeman, 2000). This last inventory has high face validity.

Kolb’s experiential learning model has been applied in many situations of job and general transfer skills: “job environments (Manring, 1981), worker ability requirements (Fry & Sims, 1981; Sims, 1981), career exploration (Atkinson & Murrell, 1988; Kolb, 1985a), counseling (Atkinson, 1991; Hunt, 1987), action research guidelines (Atkinson, Ennis, & Lloyd, 1994), community college teleconferencing (Dille & Mezack, 1991), testing formats (Holley & Jenkins, 1993), university undergraduate study habits (Nulty & Barrett, 1996), university social work field education (Raschick, Maypole, & Day, 1998), nursing program instruction (McNeal & Dwyer, 1999), on-campus versus off-campus learning (Diaz & Cartnal, 1999), meta-cognitive strategies in self-taught adults (Danis, 1988), graduate-level university concept mapping (Oughton & Reed, 2000), and general classroom learning (Bansenauer, 1996; Hettich, 1993; Smith & Kolb, 1986)” (All as cited in Marion, 2001).

References

Atkinson, G. A. (1991). Kolb’s Learning-Style Inventory: A practitioner’s perspective. Measurement & Evaluation in Counseling & Development, 23, 149-161

Dunn, L. (2002). Theories of Learning, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Kolb, D. A. (1985a). Learning-Style Inventory: Self-scoring inventory and interpretation booklet. Boston: McBer & Company.

Kolb, D. A. (1985b). Personal learning guide: Self-study booklet. A personal guide for setting learning goals and learning strategies. Boston: McBer & Company.

Marion, T. (2001).Translating Learning Style Theory into University Teaching Practices: An Article Based on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model. Journal of College Reading and Learning. Volume: 32. Issue: 1

Moon, J. (2004). A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and Practice. Routledge: New York

Moon, J. (1999). Reflection in Learning and Professional Development. London: Kogan Page

Pickworth, G. E. & Shoeman, W. J. (2000). The psychometric properties of the Learning Style Inventory and the Learning Style Questionnaire: Two normative measures of learning styles. South African Journal of Psychology, 30(2), p. 44-53.

Wallace, M. (1996). When is experiential learning not experiential learning?. In G.Claxton, T.Atkinson, M.Osborn and M.Wallace (Ed.) Liberating the Learner, London: Routledge

Click Here To Order Now!

Kolb’s, Piaget’s, and Lewin’s Change Theories Comparison

Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?

We have qualified writers to help you.

We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.

You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)