Feynman Technique

What is the Feynman technique?

The technique is named after the physicist Richard Feynman, known for his clear and simple explanations of difficult topics. Feynman never wrote it down as a method himself. The name sums up how he approached topics: if you cannot explain something simply, you have not fully understood it yet.

It works best in subjects where connections matter: theories, models, derivations, arguments. For pure facts such as vocabulary or dates, flashcards are the better tool.

The four steps

1. 1

   Pick a topic

   Write the topic at the top of a blank page, for example “opportunity cost” or “How does a hypothesis test work?”.

2. 2

   Explain it simply

   Explain it in writing or aloud as if teaching someone without prior knowledge. Short sentences, everyday examples, no technical terms without explanation.

3. 3

   Find the gaps

   Mark the spots where you get stuck, use jargon as a shortcut or say “somehow”. That is exactly where understanding is missing. Go back to your script and work through those parts.

4. 4

   Simplify and shorten

   Rewrite the explanation, shorter and clearer. A good sign: you come up with your own example that is not from the script.

Why explaining helps you learn

That explaining deepens understanding is well researched. In a study by Chi and colleagues (1994), students read a text about the circulatory system. Those prompted to explain each sentence to themselves understood the material better than a comparison group that read the text twice.

Fiorella and Mayer (2013) showed that merely preparing to teach material to others improves learning. The strongest effect came from actually teaching it afterwards.

The Feynman technique combines both: you explain the material to yourself and check whether you can retrieve it. It complements active recall when the question is why.

Common mistakes

• Jargon as explanation: “that is just elasticity” explains nothing. Every technical term has to be broken down into plain words.
• Explaining only in your head: in thought everything seems clear. The gaps only show when you write or say it.
• Copying from the script: then you practise copying, not understanding. Explain without notes first, compare afterwards.
• Noting gaps but not closing them: the most important step is reworking them and writing a new, better explanation.

Sources

• Chi, M. T. H., De Leeuw, N., Chiu, M.-H., & LaVancher, C. (1994). Eliciting self-explanations improves understanding. Cognitive Science, 18(3), 439–477. doi:10.1207/s15516709cog1803_3
• Fiorella, L., & Mayer, R. E. (2013). The relative benefits of learning by teaching and teaching expectancy. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 38(4), 281–288. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2013.06.001