it's a struggle all students can relate
to how do we master difficult concepts
from school and actually get them to
stick stay tuned to find out how what's
going on guys
jay from mental insiders comm i provide
plenty of study tips and strategies on
this channel and on my blog while you
can find similar tips elsewhere I know
that teaching you the strategy is only
half the equation the other half is
knowing when to actually use it
I went over not only memorization
strategies but when to use each one in a
prior video as well as how and when to
use flashcards in my Anki series I'll
have links in the description below so
in this video we'll go over not only how
to use the Fineman technique but when to
use it as well first a brief history the
Fineman technique is named after richard
fineman
a Nobel prize-winning physicist i'm not
going to go into all the different ways
that richard fineman was a huge badass
but feel free to read more about him
he's a very fascinating guy among other
things he was known as the great
explainer because of his teaching chops
so what is the Fineman technique the
Fineman technique will help you master
difficult concepts in a way that you
will retain them for long periods of
time there are four steps to it first
write the concept name at the top you
are deliberately focusing your attention
on mastering this one topic or concept
next explain the concept using simple
language as if you were explaining it to
one of your friends who is not familiar
with it this is where the magic happens
because of what happens next as you work
on explaining the concept you will
naturally identify problem areas areas
that you are having difficulty
explaining in simple terms use this as a
guide to go back to your textbook or
lecture materials to fill in the gaps in
your understanding now that you've
explained the concepts go back and
pinpoint any complicated terms and
challenge yourself to simplify them even
further feel free to use analogies that
may aid and understand
don't just think of how to make it
simple think of how you would explain it
to a child in my own time as a student I
use this technique time and time again I
just didn't know there was a name for it
both as a pre-med in college and as a
medical student
this technique helped me master
difficult concepts very quickly the
traditional way the technique is
explained is to write this all out on a
piece of paper and pretend like you're
teaching someone the weight I like to
implement it is to have a small group
study session with one or two other
people and actually take turns teaching
the difficult concepts to one another up
on the whiteboard as each person takes
their turn teaching the group attempt to
simplify it further each and every time
when the group gets stuck refer to your
textbooks and notes and try to solve the
problem together
the act of simplifying difficult
concepts using the Fineman technique
helps a great deal with understanding
and information retention but the
sensory stimulation and emotional
responses of explaining to your friends
real time in a small group setting takes
it to the next level studying alone with
a piece of paper is just not as
memorable as explaining the concepts to
others when their eyes are on you after
I had mastered a concept by teaching my
friends I would not have to study it
again for the exam I do not recommend
group studying like this all the time it
is best used occasionally and with
smaller groups I go over how to use
group studying in some of my earlier
videos check out the card above and I
will also play the links in the
description below so when should you
actually use it to be most efficient you
should not be using this for everything
you study it will be more appropriate
for certain classes or topics and less
so for others the Fineman technique is
most commonly described for difficult
mathematical concepts but I use it
during my time in undergrad when I
studied neuroscience or while tackling
difficult concepts in medical school the
key is knowing when to use it if the
topic is a task of memorization then the
Fineman technique is generally not going
to be very helpful there's also no point
wasting time using the Fineman technique
on concepts that you find simple and
easy to
understand already four simple
memorization which there is a lot of for
most students use flashcards mnemonics
or the memory palace I go over how to
use each one in my memorization video
link in the description below for
concepts requiring more complex
understanding use the Fineman technique
in medical school I found this most
useful for topics that had challenging
concepts or complex interactions
specifically cardiology and pulmonology
which both had a little bit of math and
physics as well as immunology renal and
neuro as a pre-med I use the technique
often during the most difficult
neuroscience classes that require deep
understanding of multiple elements
interacting together the Fineman
technique is great for these specific
cases don't feel like you have to do
small group study sessions like I did
that was just my preference but our
learning styles are different so as
always figure out what works best for
you have you tried to find the technique
let me know about your experience and
thoughts in the comments below thank you
all so much for watching if you liked
the video make sure you press that like
button new videos every week so hit
subscribe if you have not already and I
will see you guys in that next one
you