A Psychometric Reexamination of Kolb'S Experiential Learning Cycle Construct: A Separation of Level, Style, and Process

Abstract

The study examined Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory through a psychometric analysis and revision of Honey and Mumford's Learning Style Questionnaire (LSQ) using a sample of 185 middle/senior managers in the UK and Eire. Kolb's theoretical two bipolar-dimension orthogonal structure emerges, although it is made up of pairs that are not Kolb's configurative opposites but ones suggested by other scholars. The authors' principal finding is that no single measure can bear the weight of all of Kolb's constructs. The revision of the LSQ supports two psychometrically sound, orthogonally related, bipolar-style dimensions. Indirectly, this construct can give rise to four descriptions, based on their quadrants, that Kolb usefully treats as types. Unrelated to any measure is a four-stage process that the authors define as an ideal dynamic schema.