What it shows
Kolb’s experiential learning cycle, with four stages running clockwise from the top: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. Active experimentation leads to a new concrete experience, and the cycle begins again.
Each stage has the same example, learning to ride a bike, adapted from Kraft (1994), so one experience can be followed all the way round.
How to read it
Concrete experience, at the top: the learner rides the bike.
Reflective observation, next clockwise: they consider what worked and what failed.
Abstract conceptualization follows, as they form an idea about how riding works.
Active experimentation closes the loop: they plan a better next attempt, which becomes the next concrete experience.
That attempt is a new concrete experience, which is why the diagram is a loop.
The four stages
- Concrete experience: rides the bike.
- Reflective observation: considers what worked or failed.
- Abstract conceptualization: forms an idea about riding.
- Active experimentation: plans a better next attempt.
Ways to use it in teaching
Students can replace the bike with something they learned recently and take it round the four stages.
Set it as the structure for a reflective assignment, with one paragraph per stage.
In teacher education, ask where in the cycle a typical lecture leaves students.
Sources
- Experiential learning. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiential_learning
- Kolb, A. Y., & Kolb, D. A. (2005). Learning styles and learning spaces: Enhancing experiential learning in higher education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4(2), 193–212. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2005.17268566
- Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice-Hall.
- Kraft, R. G. (1994). Bike riding and the art of learning. In L. B. Barnes, C. R. Christensen, & A. J. Hansen (Eds.), Teaching and the case method. Harvard Business School Press.
