MARGE & the Feynman Technique
CPD: MARGE Model for Learning (by Nimish Lad), topic 1.3.6
MARGE and the Feynman Technique
The Feynman technique is a mental model used to convey information using concise thoughts and simple language.
A four-stage process
- The technique is a four-stage process:
- Identify a subject.
- Teach it to a child.
- Identify and fill your knowledge gaps.
- Organise, simplify and tell your story.
Communication
- When identifying a subject you should write down, concisely, everything you know about it.
- Take these notes and work with them so you can teach the topic to a child, elaborating on ideas using simple language and diagrams.
- The language used should be accessible to all, and the communication should be precise.
Organisation
- Highlighting knowledge gaps in your explanations ensures that you stitch your schema together and fill these gaps with missing knowledge.
- Once this is complete, you can then explain a topic in detail, in simple language, precisely and with a narrative.
- This needs clear organisation of your thoughts and explanations.
Feynman's Application
Feynman's application
- Feynman argued that if all scientific knowledge were destroyed, the following sentence would allow future society to rebuild the current body of knowledge that exists in science:
- All things are made of atoms – little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into one another.
Clarity
- This sentence exemplifies the Feynman technique. By being precise, having a clear narrative, and using language free of jargon, it makes it clear what to attend to, and motivates the reader to want to know more about the topic.
- The Feynman technique acts not only as a useful study tool for the creator of the sentence, but also as a tool to guide future learning for the recipient.
Links between MARGE and Feynman
- Motivation can be piqued by delivering an explanation as a story.
- The process of identifying the subject focuses the attention of the person crafting the explanation, as well as the learner.
- Through teaching it using simple language, relational links are generated between areas of knowledge, especially through tasks such as elaboration.
Links between MARGE and Feynman (cont.)
- Organising and simplifying images by using the three Cs of compare, contrast and categorise.
- Identifying and filling gaps in knowledge is the beginning of the process of evaluation.
Test yourself on MARGE & the Feynman Technique
When identifying a subject with the Feynman technique, what should you do?
How many stages are in the Feynman technique?
The Stages of the Feynman Technique
Which part of MARGE does identification of the subject relate to?