Kolb's experiential learning in students of the Faculty of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering of the National University of the Center of Peru

Abstract

The objective was to determine learning styles based on Kolb's (1984) experiential learning, which correspond to four loops of cognitive functions: active student or divergence, reflective or assimilator, theoretical or convergence and practitioner or accommodated; as well as relationship of their learning modes. This article deals with the study of 103 students from the Faculty of Metallurgical and Material Engineering of the National University of the Center of Peru. The results show that the student presents different forms of learning styles; so instead of trying to understand and assimilate information, you must be able to make sense of what you have experienced and develop knowledge that is useful to you. It is concluded that the predominant learning style in students is the divergent one, and the least predominance, the assimilator, those are familiar with the fields of abstraction and the observation of reflection; understanding and creating theoretical models is one of their greatest strengths, they are usually more interested in ideas. People who work in mathematics or basic science tend to adopt this learning style. Assimilators also enjoy the work, including planning and research. Likewise, the learning modality of concrete experience correlates with the learning mode of active experimentation with a negative correlation of -0.77; which implies that while one of the modalities increases, the other decreases.