The first documented use of the term firsthand learning, by Mark St. John of Inverness Research Associates, was in a lecture at the Workshop Center at the City College of New York. Firsthand learning is, at its core, learning from direct experience.
Arising from a learner's innate curiosity and the desire to investigate real phenomena, firsthand learning empowers people by providing them with opportunities to figure things out for themselves, to believe in the analytical abilities of their own minds, and to connect with the world around them. It requires close engagement with the immediate environment.
Firsthand learning is an inquiry process that is generative of questions that focus subsequent investigations. The process invites learners to gather and record their observations, to analyze and interpret them, and to arrive at provisional answers. Firsthand learning involves communication of the results of this investigative process. Sharing evidence and discussing findings with others underscores that learning is a social process.
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