Understanding Physics

Understanding Physics

Thursday, November 09, 2017

8:01 AM

"Why am I not getting it.  What is wrong with me?  I think I'm not smart enough to understand it". These are the words of a person finding it difficult  to understand physics. There are several reasons why students fail to understand Physics. Some reasons are stated below:

• Cramming habits
• Lack of imagination
• Bad teachers
• Less time spent on studying
• Lack of inspiration
• Environment

Although the list is endless, I would like to expatiate on a reason stated above.

Cramming habits

This is by far one of the major reasons why students find it hard to understand physics. Cramming as defined by Wikipedia is the practice of working intensively to absorb large volumes of informational material in short amount of time. Physics is a course that requires a great deal of studying, understanding and practice. The major reason why cramming is discouraged by educators is that it results in poor retention of concepts and information.  I was fortunate during my first year as an undergrad to have come across some efficient study tips. One of them is "The Feynman technique".

The Feynman technique is a mental model named after Nobel Prize Winning Physicist Richard Feynman. He is known as the "Great explainer" because of how he broke down complicated topics in physics to simpler bits for his students to understand.  It is a technique that helps you  to understand, remember and store concepts and information in the long-term memory. The steps in the Feynman technique are outlined below:

• Take a concept that seems abstruse.
• Study it
• Get a plain sheet of paper and write the name of the concept at the top of the paper.
• Write out an explanation of the concept on the page. Use plain English and use simple analogies. Pretend you are teaching it to someone else. This should highlight what you  understand and pin-point what you do not know.
• Go back to the books and revisit those gaps in your explanation. Revisit problem areas until you can explain the topic fully. This should help strengthen your understanding.

That's it. A simple and powerful tool to help strengthen your understanding and retention. All you need  do is to put the Feynman technique into practice and you'll get good results.

 In my next post, i shall expatiate on the other reasons and provide some solutions. I'll be glad to receive your feedback and comments.