About Us
Firsthand Learning, Inc. is a New York nonprofit corporation founded in 1998 to promote inquiry-based teaching, learning from direct experience, and closer links between cultural institutions and schools. To this end, FHL designs and implements curriculum materials and professional development programs that emphasize direct, firsthand experiences with natural and cultural phenomena. The organization is an outgrowth of the work of the former Center for Science Education at the Buffalo Museum of Science where several of Firsthand Learning's projects originated.
Our Mission
The mission of Firsthand Learning, Inc. is to promote the process of scientific inquiry as a vehicle for learning.
We believe that learners acquire and retain new knowledge most effectively when it derives from firsthand experience. Such learning makes people think for themselves rather than relying solely on the authority of teachers and textbooks.
Our materials and programs are designed to assist classroom teachers and informal educators to design programs and pedagogical environments that promote learning from direct experience and original sources. By taking part in these programs, participants learn about the processes of scientific inquiry. Learning to think scientifically is the primary goal of our curriculum materials and our professional development experiences for teachers.
Firsthand Learning
Promotes firsthand learning, which is learning from direct experience.