We have many different models that teach us about students’ learning styles. Here is a practical model that may change the way you teach writing. It’s called Kolb’s Four Learning Styles. What’s exciting about this model is that it relates to the questions students ask and why.
This is a rather complex topic, and you may need to read this page more than once to grasp the valuable significance of this model. We will look at Kolb’s model from different perspectives. By the end, you will have a mental checklist of the four learning styles and the four questions these different types of learners like to ask.
Here is our first look at Kolb’s Four Learning Styles:
1. Divergers: These people prefer to observe rather than act. They are imaginative and emotional, excelling in brainstorming and viewing situations from different perspectives.
2. Accommodators: These people prefer hands-on experiences and rely on intuition rather than logic. They use trial and error and learn best by doing.
3. Assimilators: These people prefer a logical approach. They are more interested in ideas and abstract concepts and excel in organizing information in a clear, logical format.
4. Convergers: These people prefer to find practical uses for ideas and theories. They are good at solving problems and making decisions based on finding solutions to questions or problems.
Here are the four questions these learners like to ask: What about…? What? Why? How?
Can you guess who likes to ask which question? Keep reading to find the answer!
David Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory Based on Experiential Learning Theory: The Four Different Learning Modes and How They Create Four Types of Learners
We need to understand Kolb’s Four Learning Modes to understand Kolb’s Learning Styles better. We can view these learning modes as a cycle of learning. Even though it is a cycle, individual students will learn differently at each stage of the cycle. Some students are more effective learners in one stage, while others learn better in another.
Learning Mode 1: Concrete Experience: There is an old proverb, “Experience is the best teacher.” In other words, students learn by experiencing things. Note: There is also an extension to this proverb, which says, “Experience is the best teacher, but the tuition is high.”
Learning Mode 2: Reflective Observation: These learners review and reflect on experiences.
Learning Mode 3: Abstract Conceptualization: The learner draws conclusions. Students create and format their personal understanding of what they have learned. They make their new knowledge fit in with their current model of the world.
Learning Mode 4: Active Experimentation: These learners test out new knowledge in the real world and see if it works. In writing, this would mean, “Let’s see how our readers like the new techniques we are applying. Do I like my new writing? Do these strategies and techniques get me a better grade?”
Through various combinations of these four learning modes, four learning styles emerge. Let’s take a look at them.
Kolb’s Four Types of Learners
These four learning styles each combine two of the learning modes discussed above. This does not mean that students don’t learn through the other modes; it just means that they have strengths in and/or prefer two of the modes over the other two modes. You will find that all four modes have an essential place in effective instruction.
1. Divergers: These students learn through concrete experience and reflective observation. They ask, “Why?”
2. Accommodators: These students learn through concrete experience and active experimentation. They ask, “How?”
3. Assimilators: These students learn through abstract conceptualization and reflective observation. They ask, “What?”
4. Convergers: These students learn through abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. They ask, “What about…?”
The Different Questions Learners Want Answered: Why? How? What? What about…?
Here is a simplified and helpful version of Kolb’s model based on a few of the “Five W’s and One H.” (Who, what, where, why, when, how?) Basically, when students don’t understand something, they have a question. When teaching writing, it can be hard to figure out the question behind the problem. Teachers wonder, “What don’t they understand? I have done a great job of teaching this.”
Here is a cheat sheet that narrows down what your students want to know and how they learn. It addresses the four learning styles and the main question each style wants answered. These questions are: 1) Why? 2) How? 3) What? 4) What about?
Four Questions for the Four Learning Styles
1. Divergers: Why?
These students are not asking, “Why does it work?” They are asking, “Why do I have to do it? What will happen if I don’t do it?” The answer to these questions usually goes like this: “If you apply this strategy, your readers will easily understand what you are saying. If you don’t, your readers will be lost and confused. Having your readers understand what you are saying will get you better grades, and people will enjoy reading your writing. They will think you are a gifted and talented writer. If you don’t apply the strategies and your readers are lost, your grades will suffer, and people will wonder what is wrong with you.”
2. Accommodators: How?
These students say, “Just tell me how to do it. Show me each step, and I will follow your directions. I learn by doing. I don’t need any reasons or explanations. Please don’t be vague and talk about the flowery, artistic nature of writing. I’m not interested in that. I see the example; what steps must I take to achieve that? Once I experience it, I will understand it, and I will be able to explain it to you based on my experience.”
3. Assimilators: What?
These students need to understand “the information.” We can’t just demonstrate or model how to write persuasively because these students need to understand it in context. These students may not even attempt to follow the strategy until they know what they will be trying to do.
Example of What May Work with These Students: “Okay, students, we will not work on narrative writing. In other words, we are not going to be telling a story. Also, we will not be working on descriptive or informative writing. Our goal is going to be to persuade someone. A synonym for persuade is “to convince.” There are many times when we need to convince another person. Here are a few.”
Example of What Would Not Work with These Students: “We will work on persuasive writing using facts, statistics, and reasons to prove our case. Here is a set of evidence for you to use. Now, prove your position. You have a model to follow; study it and follow it.”
4. Convergers: What about…?
We think of these students as the mismatchers and contradictors in our classrooms. For every example we show to prove it, they will quickly find a counterexample to disprove it. We think they are just being difficult, but often, at the heart of their troublesomeness is a learning style that makes them want to know when it works and when it doesn’t.
Example: You have taught a writing strategy; now, students have opened up a book and are reading. If these students don’t see what has been presented, they want to know why not. Showing these students textbook examples of when it works is not enough. In fact, it is not enough to show them real-world examples of it when it works. These students need to understand various situations when it does not work. There are many exceptions in writing, and every exception these students see leads them to dismiss what has been taught. The solution in teaching these students writing is to show them how what is being taught is a tool that can be used sometimes but not at other times. It is their job as the author and artist to master the tool.
Kolb’s Four Learning Styles: Four Scenarios
Let’s explore some possible scenarios so you will more readily see behind the curtain of your students’ struggles. What is going on in your students’ minds?
It’s not that students just come out and ask, “Why? How? What? What about?” It’s more that these are the questions behind their questions and their struggles. Teachers can more easily remediate and strategize when students struggle, “Let’s see… I can’t re-teach the entire lesson. So, which question is behind their problem?” When you figure it out, you can solve the problem on your first try.
Remember: We want to address all these types of learners and all of these questions when we teach our lesson the first time. Include at least a sentence or two to speak to each learning style. Giving more examples is not the only way to better teach a concept. Instead, try addressing one of these other learning modes.
Scenario 1: Accommodators: How?
A student acts bored and asks if she can get started on the work. Remember: This is a special kind of learner with a special kind of question. This question represents a “how” question. This student learns by experiencing and experimenting. It seems the teacher has given enough instruction so that the student feels comfortable getting started on the work. These students can’t know what they understand until they get involved with the work. At the moment, they don’t need any more theory. Note: We all know that students often want to get started, and then once they get started, they discover that they don’t understand how to do the work. The point about this “how” type of learner is they can’t know that they don’t know until they give it a try. This means they won’t do their best job of listening until they have given it a try.
Scenario 2: Assimilators: What?
You have done a great job of teaching a personal narrative essay. You followed the textbook and added your own fantastic bits of insight. You have given clear instructions, and there is an excellent example on the front board. A student says, “I don’t get it.” You ask what they don’t get. The student replies, “Are you saying that this is just a story about our life?” You reply, “Yes.” The student replies, “I don’t get it… so I can just write about something that happened to me, and I have written a personal narrative essay?”
These questions are all “what” questions. These questions show a need to better understand the context of a personal narrative essay. The proper teaching extension would involve explaining a few different types of essays and how a personal narrative essay differs from a fiction story. This would help the student better understand the context of a personal narrative essay. In other words, this student does not need more examples on how to write a personal narrative essay; they need to understand the context of what a personal narrative essay is and isn’t. They need the theory behind essays and stories to understand where the personal narrative essay fits in.
Scenario 3: Divergers: Why?
You are working on descriptive writing. A student says, “Why do we have to learn this? None of our school work ever involves describing how the spring sun makes us feel. Is there going to be a test on this?” This one is easy. It’s a “why” question… the little rascal. You explain to this student that the assignment will be extra homework if he doesn’t finish it. And yes, there will be a test on the different types of writing before he goes on vacation.
Additionally, you tell him that you overheard him describing what happened in his baseball game the other day. You explain how learning to describe things will make him a more entertaining storyteller and communicator. You say, “You won’t want to feel foolish in your interview when you describe how winning the World Series felt!”
Scenario 4: Convergers: What about…?
Your students are struggling with run-on sentences and sentence fragments. You instruct them not to start sentences with the words “and, but, because.” The next day, a student arrives with numerous examples from newspapers and magazines showing how it is acceptable. You explain that the authors in question did it artistically, rarely, and correctly. You explain that the students in your class have been doing it incorrectly and that it is harming their writing.
This student is not convinced. He doesn’t know what to think. He starts to lose interest in writing because he thinks your rules are inconsistent. This is a “what about…” situation. The solution would be to teach formal writing vs. informal writing. Starting sentences with “and, but, because” is discouraged in formal writing. Additionally, this student needs to understand that language does change over time, and the rules of starting sentences with “and, but, because” have relaxed in recent years. Explain that you are still discouraging the practice. You will address it in depth when they are advanced writers later in the year. In the meantime, have this student continue to collect examples, which you will share with the class at a later date.
Whether you teach elementary or middle school, remedial writers, or gifted writers, reaching and teaching the four different types of learners will improve your writing instruction.
In Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay, all four types of learners and teachers are spoken to directly. The program teaches what to do and addresses all the problem areas surrounding what students might do or will want to do. All the gaps are closed for all the different learning styles.
