Reflection Of Experiential Learning

Introduction

The task assigned to the three-member group of which I was a part of was to analyse the underlying issues of the given case study and to present our findings through a brief presentation. The group members were allocated randomly from the students following the MSc Business Psychology programme. (49)

On embarking on this reflective essay on my experiences as a group member and subsequent reflection of learning experiences I would like to draw on Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) and in particular the individual learning styles developed by him in the self-descriptive inventory known as the Learning Style Inventory (Kolb, .......). (49)

Kolb & Kolb (2005) describe experiential learning as a philosophy of education and

Therefore the lack of what I felt was inadequate discussion and contribution by the other members at the initial stages was quite unsettling for me. In this sense I believe I display the characteristics of a converger and certain aspects of an accommodator. Convergers dominant learning abilities are abstract conceptualization and active experimentation and are best at finding practical uses for ideas and theories whilst accommodators use concrete experience and active experimentation and enjoy new and challenging 'hands on' type experiences (Kayes, Kayes and Kolb, 2005; Kolb, 1981). On the downside, convergers may disregard ideas and information that they think may not be important and can rush to a decision without gathering all the details while accommodators can be impatient with those that lack the same sense of urgency and may focus on the whole problem overlooking or delegating details (Turesky and Gallagher, 2011).

This self-analysis was also revealing in that I had previously tended to view myself more as a diverger, whose principle learning abilities are concrete experience and reflective observation. Divergers tend to gather information, facilitate brainstorming sessions and have the ability to focus on an issue from many directions (Kayes, Kayes and Kolb, 2005; Kolb, 1981). However, a diverger may also continue to search for solutions or change direction when it is no longer practical to do so thus sometimes holding up effective conclusions (Turesky and Gallagher, 2011). I found this aspect particularly interesting since a cursory examination of the qualities of a diverger seemed more in line with my strengths and