Feynman also had very interesting thoughts regarding the learning process. In fact, one of the most widely used learning methods, the Feynman technique, is based upon Feynman’s own method to learn a concept thoroughly. The technique works as follows:

1. Choose a concept you want to learn about.
2. Write out everything you know about the concept as simply as possible as if you were trying to teach it to a child. Make sure you avoid using unnecessary jargon or complicated vocabulary.
3. Review what you have written and identify the gaps in your knowledge, basically the things you would not be able to explain to a child simply.
4. Go back to source material (lectures, textbooks etc.) and research some more to fill in those gaps.
5. Repeat step 2 until you can explain the entire concept in a simple, uncomplicated way.

By wording your explanation in a simple way without the use of technical terms, it forces you to actually understand the deeper workings behind some concept, rather than just quoting some science term. One example that Feynman would give of this was explaining why shoes wear out after being used for a while. Majority of people would simply say “friction” as the reason. And while that is fundamentally true, it does not really explain it to someone who doesn’t know how it works. So, a much better explanation according to Feynman would be “shoe leather wears out because it rubs against the sidewalk and the little notches and bumps on the sidewalk grab pieces and pull them off.” This sort of explanation would be far easier for someone to understand, and it also guarantees that the explainer actually understands what’s going on behind friction. Using a similar approach to learning all sorts of concepts guarantees a proper understanding, rather than just memorising content.

Feynman is often remembered as one of the greatest teachers of all time. Even Bill Gates gave his approval by posting a video on his YouTube account, “The best teacher I never had”, a tribute to Richard Feynman. His teaching style made the learning process far more interesting and enjoyable compared to how most people teach. So, for any teachers or aspiring teachers out there, be sure to take a page out of Feynman’s playbook when teaching.