You have reread your notes several times, everything seems clear in class, and yet on exam day your ideas get muddled. Often the time you spend studying is fine: the method is the issue. The Feynman technique offers a simple test to check whether you have truly understood a subject.
The trap of passive rereading
Rereading a lesson gives a feeling of mastery. When you see a definition or a formula again, you recognise it, and your brain mistakes that familiarity for understanding. Researchers call it an “illusion of competence”.
The problem shows up once the page is out of sight. In an exam, you have to retrieve the information on your own, organise it and apply it to a new question. Material you merely recognise is then no longer enough.
The solution is to move from passive revision to active learning: produce the explanation yourself, instead of rereading it.
What is the Feynman technique?
Richard Feynman (1918-1988) was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. He was known for explaining very complex ideas in simple words, to his students and to the general public alike.
The “Feynman technique” bears his name, but he never set it out in this form himself. It was put together after his death, based on the way he worked and on a principle attributed to him: if you cannot explain an idea simply, you have not yet fully understood it.
This principle matches what research in the psychology of learning observes. A landmark review (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013) ranks testing yourself among the most effective methods and rates self-explanation as useful. Rereading and highlighting, on the other hand, are among the least effective. The Feynman technique combines precisely these two active approaches.
The 4 steps of the Feynman method
The method fits on a single sheet of paper. Allow half an hour for a well-defined idea; a whole chapter will take several sessions.
Step 1: choose the idea to understand
Pick a precise topic: a law of physics, a theorem, a biological mechanism, a historical cause, a grammar rule. Write its name at the top of a blank sheet.
The more precise the idea, the more useful the test. “Photosynthesis” works better than “biology”.
Step 2: explain it as you would to a child
Close your notes. Under the title, explain the idea in your own words, as if you were talking to someone who knows nothing about the subject, for example a 12-year-old.
- no jargon and no copied definitions;
- short sentences that follow on logically;
- a concrete example as soon as possible.
You can also do it out loud, in front of a family member or facing an empty chair. What matters is producing the explanation without looking at your notes.
Step 3: find the gaps and go back to your notes
At some point you will get stuck, or use a technical word because you cannot say it simply. That is exactly what the method is looking for: where you get stuck is where the gap lies.
Then go back to your notes or textbook, for that point only. Reread the relevant part to understand what you were missing, not to learn it by heart. Then close your notes again and rewrite that part of your explanation.
Step 4: simplify and find analogies
Reread your full explanation. Could it be shorter, clearer? Look for a comparison from everyday life: electric current as water in pipes, a mathematical function as a machine that transforms whatever you put into it.
If you can link the idea to something familiar, it will stick much better. An analogy does have its limits, though: check that it does not distort the content of the lesson.
A worked example
Take the idea of average speed, in physics. A first explanation might be: “it’s distance divided by time”. That is correct, but why?
As you try to go further, you may stumble over the difference between average speed and speed at a given moment. Back to your notes, then a new version: “If a car travels 120 km in 2 hours, it averaged 60 km per hour, even if it stopped at a red light and drove faster on the motorway.”
This second version shows that you understand what the formula means, and not just the formula itself.
Which subjects is it best for?
The Feynman technique is especially useful in subjects where you need to understand a line of reasoning:
- the sciences (physics, chemistry, biology);
- subjects such as maths, to explain the meaning of a property or a solving method;
- history, geography and economics, for links between cause and effect;
- higher education courses, full of abstract concepts.
It is less suited to pure memorisation, such as vocabulary in a language or dates. There, other tools work better, such as question and answer flashcards reviewed at regular intervals. The two approaches complement each other well.
A tool for students… and for parents
For pupils and students, it is a way to make revision more effective. Rather than rereading a whole chapter, you quickly spot the points you have not mastered and focus your effort on them. The method fits easily into a revision schedule, as described in our 5 tips for studying and passing your exams.
For parents, it is a simple way to understand where your child stands. Ask them to explain a point from their lessons to you:
- if their explanation is muddled, the difficulty most likely lies in understanding;
- if it is clear at home but the results do not follow, the cause may lie elsewhere: memorisation, organisation, handling stress.
Listen without correcting straight away, and ask naive questions (“and why?”). Your child becomes the one teaching, which values what they already know.
The limits of the method
The Feynman technique takes effort. Explaining is more tiring than rereading, and the first attempts can be frustrating. That is normal: difficulty is part of learning.
Nor does it replace exercises. In maths or science, understanding an idea and knowing how to apply it are two different things: after the explanation, you still need to practise on exam questions.
Getting support
Some students need help to build new study habits. My Sherpa coaches work with them on their study method : learning actively, planning, testing themselves before the exam. An educational advisor chooses the coach according to the student’s needs, for lessons at home anywhere in Belgium or online, in secondary school as well as in higher education.
