One theorist, David Kolb, offers a four part model for learning style. He envisions two sliding scales. Each person has a preference about how they perceive or take in information and about how they process or work with the information, but there's a continuum for both aspects. No one is all or none at any time on either scale. Perceiving, or taking information in, might range from having concrete experiences to very abstract "thought experiments." Processing, or working with the information, ranges from actively interacting with the world to watching and observing.

If you put these sliding scales together like a cross, perceiving going up and down and processing going across, you can find your position on a grid. You might be close to the side with active learning and close to the top where you like to have concrete experiences. In Kolb's theory, this would mean you have an accommodating learning style that involves feeling and doing. A person who prefers watching but still likes concrete experiences has a diverging learning style. If you prefer abstract thinking and watching, that indicates an assimilating learning style, and if you prefer thinking and doing, that's a converging learning style.

In less abstract terms, a person with an accommodating learning style likes to feel and do. It's a concrete and active way of dealing with the world. This person probably learns best through trial and error and enjoys discovery learning. A person with a diverging learning style likes to feel and watch. Innovative and imaginative activities are best, and he or she probably does well with cooperative learning and brainstorming. The assimilating learner likes to think and watch. He or she moves from details to larger concepts, and experiments, models and projects are great ways to learn. The converging learning style is a think and do mentality. This learner likes problem solving and application, and often prefers to work alone instead of with groups.

Complicated enough for you? It's really not that bad once you take it apart and process it. Let's take a look together.

• Everyone has a place on this chart. Your place on the chart is probably not on a line but out in the grid somewhere.
  
• Your place on the chart moves around according to the task, your mood, the situation and the difficulty of the material, among other factors.
• The chart can be divided into four areas (top left, top right, bottom right and bottom left). These four areas indicate learning style.
• The upper left quadrant is the Accommodating Learning Style. If your spot on the chart is anywhere in this area, you prefer to learn by active, concrete learning activities. This means you like hands-on activities, things to try out, experiments, and so forth. You like trial and error methods (try it out and see if it works), and you like discovery learning, where the teacher puts all the pieces of an idea out and you have to work it out on your own.
• The upper right corner of the chart is the Diverging Style. If your place on the chart is in this area, you prefer feeling and watching. These learners like to be imaginative and social. Group work, cooperative assignments and brainstorming with friends are high on the list of favorite activities. You like projects where you get to work with friends and be creative.
• The lower right quadrant of the chart is the area of thinking and watching, the Assimilating Style. A person with this learning style might prefer to watch demonstrations and consider what they've just seen. They ponder things in their heads and figure things out. They often prefer to work alone.
• The lower left quadrant is the converging style. If you are a learner like this, you like to think and do things. Problem-solving and application are the best parts of learning for you, and you probably prefer to work alone.