Restructuring a Course using Kolb’s Learning Theory

The purpose of this article is to chronicle the restructuring of an online graduate level course using Kolb’s Experiential Learning theory. The goal was to increase student satisfaction in the approach to the course, create an engaging environment, structure the assignments to meet the outcomes of the course and have the students retain the information longer after course finish. Through student evaluations and faculty commentary the restructuring was a success with positive feedback. The results for student satisfaction were overwhelmingly positive for the changes to the course. The students felt the assignments kept in the course were effective in meeting the outcomes of the course. Of the 50 respondents answering the question: “Were the assignments in the course an effective modality to meet the course outcomes?” 49% strongly agreed, 45% agreed, 2% were neutral, and 4% disagreed. The change increased faculty and student engagement and allowed the student to feel more connected to the topic. Future studies that follow this will be to determine if the material is retained over a longer period of time based on the structure of the course utilizing the Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory.The purpose of this article is to chronicle the restructuring of an online graduate level course using Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory. The goal was to increase student satisfaction in the approach to the course, create an engaging environment, structure the assignments to meet the outcomes of the course and have the students retain the information longer after course finish. Through student evaluations and faculty commentary the restructuring was a success with positive feedback. The results for student satisfactions were overwhelmingly positive for the changes to the course. The students felt the assignments kept in the course were effective in meeting the outcomes of the course. Of the 50 respondents answering the question: “Were the assignments in the course an effective modality to meet the course outcomes?” 49% strongly agreed, 45% agreed, 2% were neutral, and 4% disagreed. The change increased faculty and student engagement and allowed the student to feel more connected to the topic. Future studies that follow this will be to determine if the material is retained over a longer period of time based on the structure of the course utilizing the Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory