LEARNING STYLES INVENTORY AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THEORIES AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Abstract

Kolb Learning Style Inventory (KLSI). Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (KLSI) and Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model (ELT) theories are referenced in 55% of academic journal articles, 20% of doctoral dissertations, 10% of books and book chapters, and 15% of conference proceedings, research reports, and other studies of experiential learning. Despite its popularity and widespread use, the theoretical underpinnings of Kolb’s theories are questioned. Others argue Kolb’s approach for measuring the effectiveness of his theories as being “weak to moderate.”However, the results of quantitative studies suggest ANOVA statistics documenting the interrater agreement between the use of Kolb’s cyclical transformation learning techniques and cognitive achievement increases at a statistically significance Cohen’s Kappa 0.003 reliability indicator. The purpose of this integrative literature review was to use Cooper’s Taxonomy of Literature Review guidelines to gather and analyze works that studied the topic of inquiry. Of the 50 works analyzed, the findings of 19 studies were synthesized and implications were noted. The findings were used to present recommendations for additional studies. This study was significant because it infers additional valid, reliable, and scalable research is needed to resolve the conflicts and recommends several strategies to accomplish this goal.