Kolb\'s Learning Styles Inventory According

¶ … Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory

According to Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory, my learning style consists of doing and feeling or CE/AE. When these are placed on the two-by-two matrix, my learning style is accommodating. An accommodating learning style is often times referred to as a "hands-on" style and one that relies upon intuition over logic.

The description of a person with this learning style seems to fit as it states that accommodating people prefer to take a practical and experiential approach to learning. It also states that I should be attracted to new challenges and experiences as well as to carrying out plans. An accommodating person also acts upon his/her gut instinct as opposed to a logical analysis approach. This person is said to do well in roles that require a person to take action and work in teams. Such a person will set goals and actively work out in the field trying different ways to conquer that objective. In terms of weaknesses, the inventory states that accommodators will not enjoy being forced to read directions without being able to actually do the task. Additionally, we will may also be prone to procrastination and find sitting still for long periods of time without doing something or interacting to be troublesome.

The other three learning styles, diverging, converging, and assimilating, have different strengths and weaknesses. Individuals with a diverging learning preference can look at something from several perspectives, prefer to watch rather than do, and they gather information. requiring ideas-generation, for example, brainstorming. People with a diverging learning style have broad cultural interests and like to gather information. They are interested in people, tend to be imaginative and emotional, and tend to be strong in the arts. People with the diverging style prefer to work in groups, to listen with an open mind and to receive personal feedback.

People with the converging preference believe that ideas and concepts are more important than people. A good explanation is more helpful to this learner than the chance to actually do the task. This person will do well in information and science careers and they prefer reading, lectures, and labs and having the time to think something through. Convergers can also solve problems and use their learning to find answers to problems. Technical tasks are preferred over people and interpersonal details. They also enjoy experimenting, simulating, and working with practical applications.

When there are too many people with one learning type over another in the same organization, there may be a deficiency in a particular type of strength which could prove to be valuable to the organization. For instance, if the organization does not have any accommodators, but rather has several convergers, divergers, and assimilators, then the organization may be in need of an individual whom can work quickly and whom can figure something out without a given set of procedure or directions and whom perhaps can derive conclusions based upon his/her gut instinct. If an agency has a balance of learners and the agency is aware of the strengths and weaknesses within the organization, then groupings may be done so that each group has an individual representing a particular learning style. Furthermore, many organizations spend a significant amount of money investing in the training of their employees. Corporate trainers should be aware of the types of learners in their audience so that all employees' learning needs are taken into consideration when preparing how to deliver information so as to foster real and meaningful learning. Additionally, the learning styles information could be used to help people in many contexts from school to work to personal lives understand one another and communicate more efficiently and clearly.