David Kolb published his theory of experiential learning in 1984, drawing on the earlier work of Kurt Lewin, John Dewey and Jean Piaget. The theory proposes that learning proceeds through a four-stage cycle covering concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation, and it pairs that cycle with four distinct learning styles built from how a person combines experience, reflection, thinking and action. Kolb intended the model as a way to assess how a person's skills line up with the demands of a task or job, treating learning as a holistic process rather than a single mental operation.
Facts
Core ClaimKolb's experiential learning model holds that learning proceeds through a four-stage cycle of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation, forming a spiral that can begin at any stage. 1 Origin YearEarliest applied-theory publication per the Bibliography of the live David A. Kolb Wikipedia article (Kolb and Fry, 1974). This atlas's existing entity-description for this entity, written by a prior lane and not altered this session, states Kolb published his theory in 1984, the year of his widely cited monograph Experiential Learning, Experience as the Source of Learning and Development; that specific 1984 date was not independently re-verified live this session against a source that states it, so both years are on record for a successor to reconcile. Connections
Associated With
Source Learning cycle (Wikipedia)
Developed By
David A. Kolb, Thinkers David Kolb published his theory of experiential learning in 1984, per its own entity-description on this atlas.
Informed By
Jean Piaget, Thinkers Kolb's theory drew on the earlier work of Kurt Lewin, John Dewey and Jean Piaget, per its own entity-description on this atlas.
John Dewey, Thinkers Kolb's theory drew on the earlier work of Kurt Lewin, John Dewey and Jean Piaget, per its own entity-description on this atlas; John Dewey is the one of the three already live in this atlas.
Policies Informed
Student development theory's own entity-description names David Kolb's theory of experiential learning as one of its first-wave component theories.
Sources
1. David A. Kolb (Wikipedia)
WikipediaExperiential learning section, Wikipedia David A. Kolb article, retrieved 2026-09-09
In the early 1970s, Kolb and Ron Fry (now both at the Weatherhead School of Management) developed the Experiential Learning Model (ELM), composed of four elements:
Bibliography section, Wikipedia David A. Kolb article, retrieved 2026-09-09
Kolb, D.A.; Fry, R.E. (1974). Toward an applied theory of experiential learning. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Alfred P. Sloan School of Management.
View the Source Learning cycle (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Learning Cycle, Kolb and Fry section, ELM definitionQuote, Associated With: Learning Cycle, Kolb and Fry section, ELM definition
In the early 1970s, David A. Kolb and Ronald E. Fry developed the experiential learning model (ELM), composed of four elements
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