Learning cycle

A learning cycle is a concept of how people learn from experience. A learning cycle will have a number of stages or phases, the last of which can be followed by the first.

In 1933, John Dewey described five phases or aspects of reflective thought:

In between, as states of thinking, are (1) suggestions, in which the mind leaps forward to a possible solution; (2) an intellectualization of the difficulty or perplexity that has been felt (directly experienced) into a problem to be solved, a question for which the answer must be sought; (3) the use of one suggestion after another as a leading idea, or hypothesis, to initiate and guide observation and other operations in the collection of factual material; (4) the mental elaboration of the idea or supposition as an idea or supposition (reasoning, in the sense in which reasoning is a part, not the whole of inference); and (5) testing the hypothesis by overt or imaginative action.

In the 1940s, Kurt Lewin developed action research and described a cycle of:

Lewin particularly highlighted the need for fact finding, which he felt was missing from much of management and social work. He contrasted this to the military where

the attack is pressed home and immediately a reconnaissance plane follows with the one objective of determining as accurately and objectively as possible the new situation. This reconnaissance or fact-finding has four functions. First it should evaluate the action. It shows whether what has been achieved is above or below expectation. Secondly, it gives the planners a chance to learn, that is, to gather new general insight, for instance, regarding the strength and weakness of certain weapons or techniques of action. Thirdly, this fact-finding should serve as a basis for correctly planning the next step. Finally, it serves as a basis for modifying the "overall plan."

In the early 1970s, David A. Kolb and Ronald E. Fry developed the experiential learning model (ELM), composed of four elements:

Testing the new concepts gives concrete experience which can be observed and reflected upon, allowing the cycle to continue. Kolb developed a theory of learning styles, whereby each style preferred two of the four parts of the cycle.

Peter Honey and Alan Mumford developed Kolb and Fry's ideas into slightly different learning cycle. The stages are:

Honey and Mumford gave names (called learning styles) to the people who prefer to enter the cycle at different stages: Activist, Reflector, Theorist and Pragmatist. While different people prefer to enter at different stages, a cycle must be completed to give learning that will change behaviour. The cycle can be performed multiple times to build up layers of learning. Honey and Mumford's learning styles questionnaire has been criticized for poor reliability and validity. For further criticism of learning styles, see Learning styles § Criticism.

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