The Feynman Technique: What should I do to learn more effectively?
Learning may be the best habit in this life. If you’re a student right now, how happy to you. Your only job is being a learner. When you started to do new things. You should try not to lose that attribute, that habit of you. Do you want me to tell you the secret of being a good learner? It is being a teacher. When I say: “ being a teacher. “ I don’t mean the job. I’m to mention about a method that we can use when we study any subject. Let’s say you are a student and you are getting ready for an exam, or you are a worker, you are an entrepreneur and you preparing a presentation on how to get ready for the subject that we are planning to learn, how to study? That’s the question. My answer to this question is only 3 words. Famous physicist Richard Feynmann suggests a method with four steps however before we explain all of these, we should read carefully to the learning expert; Professor Candace Thille of Stanford University. He is advising about how not to study.
1) Do not underline, take notes:
She says that stop underlining the sentences because it’s nothing but wasting time you won’t learn better if you just underline well, then, what to do? While reading a book or studying a subject, if you come across an idea worth underlining paraphrase it (expressing in your own words) I mean, take notes. Make that story a part of your life.
2) Accept that it’s going to be difficult:
The wrong opinion students generally have is that If they’re having difficulty with understanding a subject, they think they can never learn it. Well, in this case, they skip this subject and prefer studying the easier topics for them. So, on the other hand, they are wasting their potential however, at first, it needs to be started with the difficult one and by knowing and accepting that subject’s difficulties while starting, Because learning happens at the time of struggling with difficulties.
3) Don’t wait for the due date:
I know, this method works you put off studying till the last night and then you work so hard it is possible to get good points on the next day I had done it as well. But I don’t remember what I studied last night. They didn’t contribute to my life they just memorized. Just like RAM, they are sent to temporary memory. After the usage they deleted it. Instead of it, work from time to time is much better I know we may forget what we learned before and we need to review it. thanks to these reviews those will be in our permanent memory they will be part of our story and life.
4) Be open to feedback:
Especially, the ones you don’t want to hear. You already know what you are good at it. To learn and to improve you need to know about your weakness. Friends say the truths that hurt not to hurt in the future, listen to your friend. (me :)
5) Be insistent:
Do not say my capacity is only that much. Anyone has stable memory, it is improbable. “In addition, do not care so much my brain is good at just verbal or numerical while” we learn, our brains do not know this. It slogs more in some topics but less in some. Do not focus on the difficult point, focus on the topic itself. Do not worry, your capacity is enough for it.
Can you suggest any method that is better than learning by teaching?
If you can not explain something simply that means you did not understand exactly.
Feynman is a physicist with a Nobel Prize he made Feynman Diagrams, worked on quantum, nanotechnology, and particle physics. Even, he explained why The Challenger Disaster was exploded in 1986. Do not say, what’s the connection? Because his philosophy of life is trying to understand life and to explain it. Not just as a scientist, every people should live like this. If we think what is the connection? He was interested in poets, drawing, and music. We may get shocked as well. His biggest hobby was playing bongo. Further than his colorful personality, the most I like is his way of teaching. He started to improve it when he was a student. When he was getting ready for the exam which is for Princeton University, he wrote that.
The book which I do not know.
The method he started improve from that time includes 4 steps.
1) Choose the topic which you are willing to learn: Take some notes, better to use a notebook.
2) Try to explain the topic just like you are going to explain to other people: With the simple word as much as possible.
3) You will find some missing things in your explanation so turn back to books: Repeat it till the complete explanation.
4) Make it basic and use an analogy: So try to explain with similarities.
Can we make this method simpler? I realized we can do it just with 3 words: Teach to Learn.
These three words summarize it all. If you want to learn something you need to try to teach.
The thing you learn will become your part of your life story. A period of our life will be passed as a student. But we should always be a learner.
