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LSI - The Learning Style Inventory

The LSI is designed to determine an individual's learning preference.David Kolb and Ron Fry developed the Learning Style Inventory (LSI) in the 1970s. The model is built upon the idea that learning preferences can be described by observing a learners preferences of :

active experimentation
learning from experiences, being sensitive to feelings and people;
reflective observation
reserving judgment, taking different perspectives, looking for meaning;
abstract conceptualization
thinking logically, analyzing ideas, planning systematically, using concepts;
concrete experience
liking action, showing an ability to get things done, taking risks, influencing others;

The result is four types of learners/workers:

Learning Style
Preferences
Characteristics
converger

active experimentation

abstract conceptualization

 is imaginative and innovative - good at thinking up practical applications of ideas and using deductive reasoning to solve problems
accommodator

active experimentation

concrete experience

 tends to be good at coming up with how best to apply ideas in a given situation - excellent manager of a project
assimilator

reflective observation

abstract conceptualization

 is imaginative and innovative - good at creating theoretical models by means of inductive reasoning
diverger

reflective observation

concrete experience

 is good at applying models to real situations - actually doing things instead of merely reading about and studying them

An individual may exhibit a strong preference for one of the four styles – Accommodating, Converging, Diverging and Assimilating but most people have elemnts of all four. There is a test, commercially available to find out personal preferences. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory (version 3.1) is available exclusively through Hay Group. (I have not found a reliable on for free online - if you know of one please e-mail me with the link!)

We can relate the active experimentation - reflective observation continuum to the extrovert - introvert continuum in MBTI as they both deal with the preference of how the individual likes to interact with the outside world.

We can relate the abstract conceptualization - concrete experience to the intuitive - sensing MBTI continuum as they relate to how the individual takes in information about his or her surroundings.