Learning Theories: Analyzing Andragogy and Experimental Learning

This report analyzes two prominent learning theories: Andragogy and Experimental Learning. It begins by defining Andragogy, developed by Malcolm Knowles, which emphasizes adult learners' self-direction, experience-based learning, and problem-centered approaches. The report highlights its application in business training, particularly for soft skills, where adults prefer control over their learning process. The second theory, Experimental Learning, developed by David A. Kolb, is then examined, detailing its four stages: Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualisation, and Active Experimentation. The report concludes that Experimental Learning Theory can effectively assist HR in identifying cognitive and behavioral learning needs, ultimately enhancing employee skills and organizational performance. The report references key academic sources to support its analysis.

Running head: LEARNING THEORIES
Learning Theories
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1LEARNING THEORIES
Learning designs are dependent on the learning theories. They give a strong
foundation for understanding the way people learn and the way to explain, analyse, describe
and predict learning. This paper shall elaborate on analysing two learning theories and the
way they can be applied in an organisational context. The chosen theories for this purpose are
Andragogy and Experimental learning theory.
It is to mention that Andragogy theory was developed by Malcolm Knowles during
the 1970s. It is focused on the understanding of science and practice in the adult learning. It
comprises of five important elements (Merriam 2001). Firstly, it claims that the adult learners
need to have an independent self-concept for taking initiatives to choose their learning needs.
Secondly, with the increasing age of adults, they gain more experience and in this way, they
become more intuitive. Thirdly, with the changing in roles, learning of an individual also gets
changed and this why, individuals need to orient themselves towards the skills they require to
play the role. Fourthly, it assumes that adults are problem centred and they apply their
knowledge for solving the issues. Lastly, adults are self-motivating and they always have an
internal desire for developing, unlike children who are forced to learn and develop. Over the
passage of years, this theory has been added to and adopted. It is highly applicable for
businesses because it works well for the common training courses such as the soft skills
courses. Adults are likely to desire for getting involved in the planning, delivery and
execution of their training. They want to control what, how and when they learn. With the
same, they gain more when they can pull out the past experiences into the process of learning.
They could easily draw on what they have previously known for adding greater context to
their learning. These help in increasing employee performance and adding value to the
business.
On the other hand, the experimental learning theory claims that the essence of adult
learning is making a good sense of the experiences. It was developed by David A. Kolb and

2LEARNING THEORIES
he has explained the same in four stages (Mednick 2017). Firstly, it is the Concrete
Experience (CE) that assumes that adults learn best when their learning experience goes
beyond the chalk and talk routine. Secondly, the Reflective Observation (RO) assumes that
adults need to get engaged with and reflect on their experience for gleaning the insights and
attaining knowledge (Li and Armstrong 2015). Thirdly, Abstract Conceptualisation (AC)
ensures that learners are able of decoding the abstract concepts from their reflections while
generalising their ideas and realising their relevance to reality (Barhoumi 2015). Lastly,
Active Experimentation (AE) assumes that activities like role playing, internships etc. help
the learners to apply their learning and truly learn by doing. This further result in a strong
experience. It helps the employees to learn business skills by means of a medium of shared
experience (Honey and Mumford 1992).
From the above analysis it is to conclude that experimental learning theory would best
assist the HR in the identification of cognitive and behaviours learning needs of the
employees for bringing them to the required level of organisation. The employees who are
not allowed to get the opportunity of exploring new roles will be at great disadvantage.

3LEARNING THEORIES
References:
Barhoumi, C., 2015. The Effectiveness of WhatsApp Mobile Learning Activities Guided by
Activty Theory on Students' Knowldege Management. Contemporary Educational
Technology, 6(3), pp.221-238.
Honey, P. & Mumford, A. (1992) Learning styles questionnaire (Online). Available at:
http://web.archive.org/web/20141031035931/http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/pageassets/
campaigns/nations/wales/hewales/he-representation/honeymumfordlsq.pdf
Mednick, S.A., 2017. A learning theory approach to research in schizophrenia.
In Schizophrenia (pp. 76-95). Routledge.
Merriam, S.B. (2001) ‘Andragogy and self-directed learning: pillars of adult learning theory’,
New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 89, pp. 3-13.