What Is The Feynman Technique For Learning?
In short, the Feynman Technique is a simple approach to self-directed learning. This is a five-step memorization technique. Each step makes the brain go, little by little, assimilating the information that is being memorized in a non-conscious way.
The technique is named after Richard Feynman, an American theoretical physicist who participated in, among other things, the Manhattan Project and who has experience in doing exactly what you would expect: teaching himself complicated ideas.
Richard Feynman
By age 15, Feynman had already learned advanced algebra, trigonometry, differential and integral calculus, etc. He had not yet entered university when he was already doing mathematical experiments with a derivative medium, using his own notation.
Feynman was a great theoretical physicist and received the Nobel Prize in 1965 for his theory of Quantum Thermodynamics. He was also a professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology.
As a teacher, he became popular with students because he was able to make them understand the most complex physical theories in simple, familiar language. Students could understand everything very well. This is how the Feynman Technique emerged, a study technique that can be applied to both learning and teaching.
According to the Feynman Technique and its approach to learning, if you can’t explain something to a child, you probably don’t understand it very well either. You will only fully understand something when you can explain it briefly and accurately.
The 5 steps of the Feynman Technique
Choose the concept to be learned
Start by clarifying and deciding the exact concept that is to be understood or taught and write it down at the top of a blank sheet of paper. The more specific you are, the cleaner and more efficient the rest of the learning process will be.
Develop the theme on paper according to the Feynman Technique
In as simple language as possible, write an explanation of the idea as if you are teaching someone who cannot understand it. It’s okay to start with a comprehensive summary and be more and more specific.
Simply speaking in general terms is not enough to demonstrate a complete ‘understanding’. This is just the ‘foothold’ from which work can begin, as it demonstrates the beginnings of this understanding.
Search for new knowledge
If you can’t explain it completely, go back to the paper and reread it. Research and check the background material again until the explanation is more or less convincing to you.
You can use any type of information you have, for example curious data or images. Use your notes, books and even research things on the internet. Anything that helps you improve your understanding of the subject and gain new knowledge is appropriate.
It is important that this step is well developed and that the topic to be covered is well completed. The success of the Feynman Technique depends on this point being done correctly and completely.
Document new knowledge and clarify it
As you gain new knowledge, reflect and document that new knowledge, focusing especially on how your understanding has changed.
Certainly creating images, concept maps, or anything else that serves to clarify your own thinking will be helpful. In short, you will be trying to demonstrate – accurately and precisely – a more or less complete understanding of the subject you are trying to learn or teach with the Feynman Technique.
As your understanding changes, your demonstration of that understanding must also change. This will deepen your understanding of the subject and illuminate the learning process itself (which can lead to learning new subjects).
Rewrite the theme as if you were going to teach a child through the Feynman Technique
With this step, you will know if you have already learned what you wanted to memorize. In this step, select the information you’ve already developed and write it down again. Write in a different way, with the simplest possible language, that you use in your daily life.
Finally, try saying everything out loud, just as you would explain it to a small child. Any example that might be helpful for a child to understand is appropriate.
By following these simple steps of the Feynman Technique, you will be able to increase your knowledge of any subject from day one. Besides, you can also explain it to everyone in a clear and simple way.
