Prompt: How do you feel your Implementation Theory Presentation went? What did you learn from the readings you did that went into your presentation? How do you feel the presentation information conveyed to your classmates what they need to know?
Well, I think my presentation was only so-so. This has been a challenging semester for me due to pre-scheduled travel and I was unable to attend the in-class sessions where my classmates presented their theories. Thus, to complete the assignment, I recorded my presentation and uploaded it to YouTube.
It’s odd how you can practice and rehearse a presentation, and still fumble here and there. In my recorded presentation there were moments where I wanted to use the laser pointer to highlight the connection between the theory and the example; well, I think I fumbled too much trying to use the laser, and it distracted me from the message. I will have to practice more with these tools when I record future lectures.
Yet, overall, I felt my presentation relayed good content and aligned good examples of previous research that utilized Kolb’s Theory and Framework. In the future, I think this topic could have been divided into two components, as Kolb presented the four learning phases of Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization, and Active Experimentation. However, Kolb also introduced the four quadrants of learning styles which included Diverging, Assimilating, Converging, and Accommodating. The examples I provided within the presentation primarily focused on the four phases of the learning cycle, and I did not provide examples of the learning styles within the framework. I feel like I could have created an entirely separate presentation just on the learning styles alone.
The main thing that surprised me from the readings was that folks are using Kolb’s Theory of Experiential Learning as a framework for lesson plan design. I’ve known of Kolb, on a surface level, for many years but I never considered this theory to be used as a framework for instruction. As a former instructional designer, I think this might be an area of further interest when working on course design projects. Two of the examples presented, the Healy Jenkins study and the Wijnen-Meijer et al., study, were reminiscent of a team-based learning (TBL) approach. I would also be interested to do some additional research on TBL and see if Kolb’s Theory of Experiential Learning is mentioned as part of the supportive research in the development of TBL.
I selected Kolb for this project because his theory is mentioned here and there at my place of employment, and during our faculty training sessions. Yet, he was a theorist that I did not know much about. I was glad to have this opportunity to fill in the gaps on this theory and the theorist.
