大衛(wèi)·庫伯（David Kolb）出生于1939年，是美國社會心理學(xué)家、教育家，也是一位著名的體驗式學(xué)習(xí)大師。

　　在1984年, 大衛(wèi)·庫伯曾在他的著作《體驗學(xué)習(xí)：體驗——學(xué)習(xí)發(fā)展的源泉》(Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development)一書中提出了頗具影響的體驗學(xué)習(xí)概念。并且，他把體驗學(xué)習(xí)闡釋為一個體驗循環(huán)過程：具體的體驗——對體驗的反思——形成抽象的概念——行動實驗——具體的體驗，如此循環(huán)，形成一個貫穿的學(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)歷,學(xué)習(xí)者自動地完成著反饋與調(diào)整，經(jīng)歷一個學(xué)習(xí)過程，在體驗中認(rèn)知。

　　David A. Kolb (born 1939) is an American educational theorist whose interests and publications focus on experiential learning, the individual and social change, career development, and executive and professional education. He is the founder and chairman of Experience Based Learning Systems, Inc. (EBLS), and a Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.

　　Kolb earned his BA from Knox College in 1961 and his MA and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1964 and 1967 respectively, in social psychology. In the early 1970s, Kolb and Ron Fry (now both at the Weatherhead School of Management) developed "The Experiential Learning Model," composed of four elements:

• concrete experience,
• observation of and reflection on that experience,
• formation of abstract concepts based upon the reflection,
• testing the new concepts,
• (repeat).

　　These four elements are the essence of a spiral of learning that can begin with any one of the four elements, but typically begins with a concrete experience. He named his model to emphasize its links to ideas from John Dewey, Jean Piaget, Kurt Lewin, and others writers of the experiential learning paradigm. His model was developed predominantly for use with adult education, but has found widespread pedagogical implications in higher education. Dr. Kolb is renowned in educational circles for his Learning Style Inventory (LSI). His model is built upon the idea that learning preferences can be described using two continuums: active experimentation-reflective observation and abstract conceptualization-concrete experience. The result is four types of learners: converger (active experimentation-abstract conceptualization), accommodator (active experimentation-concrete experience), assimilator (reflective observation-abstract conceptualization), and diverger (reflective observation-concrete experience). The LSI is designed to determine an individual"s learning preference. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory (version 3.1) is available exclusively through Hay Group Transforming Learning.

　　體驗式學(xué)習(xí)理論的完整提出，當(dāng)屬20世紀(jì)80年代美國人大衛(wèi)·庫伯（David kolb），在總結(jié)了約翰·杜威(John.Dewey)、庫爾特·勒溫(Kurt Lewin，1890～1947)和皮亞杰經(jīng)驗學(xué)習(xí)模式的基礎(chǔ)之上提出自己的經(jīng)驗學(xué)習(xí)模式亦即經(jīng)驗學(xué)習(xí)圈理論(experiential learning)。

　　他認(rèn)為經(jīng)驗學(xué)習(xí)過程是由四個適應(yīng)性學(xué)習(xí)階段構(gòu)成的環(huán)形結(jié)構(gòu)，包括具體經(jīng)驗，反思性觀察，抽象概念化，主動實踐。具體經(jīng)驗是讓學(xué)習(xí)者完全投入一種新的體驗；反思性觀察是學(xué)習(xí)者在停下的時候?qū)σ呀?jīng)歷的體驗加以思考；抽象概念化是學(xué)習(xí)者必須達到能理解所觀察的內(nèi)容的程度并且吸收它們使之成為合乎邏輯的概念；到了主動實踐階段，學(xué)習(xí)者要驗證這些概念并將它們運用到制定策略、解決問題之中去(Sugarman，1985)。

　　學(xué)習(xí)過程有兩個基本結(jié)構(gòu)維度，第一個稱為領(lǐng)悟維度，包括兩個對立的掌握經(jīng)驗的模式：一是通過直接領(lǐng)悟具體經(jīng)驗；二是通過間接理解符號代表的經(jīng)驗。第二個稱為改造維度，包括兩個對立的經(jīng)驗改造模式：一是通過內(nèi)在的反思；二是通過外在的行動。在學(xué)習(xí)過程中兩者缺一不可。經(jīng)驗學(xué)習(xí)過程是不斷的經(jīng)驗領(lǐng)悟和改造過程。