Inom TurdikulovThe Feynman Technique: Master the Art of Learning
Concepts of Feynman Learning technique. 1
Additionally, I recommend to check very motivational video about same topic (check part 6 on 55:00):
The complete FUN TO IMAGINE with Richard Feynman
Complexity and jargon often mask a lack of understanding.
Anyone can make a subject complicated but only someone who understands can make it simple.
Simple is beautiful.
Feynman’s learning technique comprises four key steps:
- Select a concept to learn.
- Teach it to a child.
- Review and refine your understanding.
- Organize your notes and revisit them regularly.
General ideas: understanding the true essence of a concept rather than merely knowing its name. This learning technique can be applied universally, irrespective of the subject.
Simplicity is the hallmark of true understanding. Challenge others who use jargon to explain concepts in simple terms, and their reactions may reveal their comprehension (or lack thereof).
Step 1: Select a concept to learn.
What topic are you curious about?
Take out a blank sheet of paper. Write out everything you already know about the subject you want to understand deeper. As you learn more about the topic, add it to your sheet. If you use a different color pen as you learn new things, you can literally watch your knowledge grow.
Once you think you understand the topic well enough, move on to step 2.
Step 2: Teach it to a child.
Can you explain your chosen concept to a 12-year-old? Test your understanding by simplifying your notes. Banish jargon and complexity, using only words a child would comprehend. Simplicity reveals a depth of understanding, while jargon often conceals ignorance.
Step 3: Review and Refine.
Write down your simplified explanation. The act of writing aids reflection and learning. In fact, reflection is the most important part of the learning process. Reflection is how we learn what we know and what we need to learn.
Clear writing gives poor thinking nowhere to hide. Ensure your notes are free of any jargon or something that sounds confusing. If something sounds confusing, it needs more refinement.
Read it out loud as if to a child. If the explanation isn’t simple enough or sounds confusing, that’s a good indication that you need to reflect and refine.
Go back to the source material, reviewing the parts you don’t quite understand yet.
Repeat until you have a simple explanation.
Step 4: Organize and Review.
To test your understanding in the real world, present your explanation to someone else.
- How effective was your explanation?
- What questions did they ask?
- What parts did they get confused about?
When you’re happy with your understanding, take the page you created with a simple explanation and put it into a binder. Following this technique for everything you learn gives you a binder full of learning that you can review a couple of times a year.