Study Guide: Bloom's Taxonomy & Feynman Technique

Studying is tricky. You spend most of your school years yawning and yearning for the playground, and by the time you've finished school, you've just figured out how to get through the learning process.

Fast-forward a few years and -

"If only I could go back to school and actually do some studying!"

Learning using the Feynman Technique

Sound familiar? You're not alone!

But here’s the thing: as a coach, you never really stop learning. Every session you run is a chance to pick up new skills, refine your methods, and help your participants grow. The problem? Many of us were never taught how to learn effectively, or how to pass that skill on to the people we coach.

I was so bored at school. The rote memorisation left my mind swimming in meaningless words, dates, and concepts that just wouldn’t sink in. And yet, when it came to creative projects - when I could actually use the knowledge I had acquired - I was hooked. That’s the secret most of us miss: learning sticks when it’s active, practical, and creative.

For coaches, this is gold. Because sport isn’t just about how strong or quick you are physically; it’s about decision-making, problem-solving, and adapting under pressure, all cognitive skills that can (and should) be trained like muscles. When we teach people how to learn, we help them become smarter players, not just fitter ones.

It took me 20 years to discover I LOVED learning, and I was actually good at it! Most of us are, in fact - but many of us just don't know HOW to study. I went from being an average C-grade student at school to becoming an education specialist and excelling at studying in all of my post-graduate specialisation courses.

Damn it. If only I could go back in time and use this to sail through school. Sadly, that's not possible. Instead, I made a career in helping others learn - specifically in the fields of sports sciences and physical education. But HOW did I go from barely passing classes to finishing in the top percentile in advanced courses such as Harvard HMX Physiology?

Let’s talk about two proven frameworks that can change the way you (and your team) learn: Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Feynman Technique. These aren’t just academic tools - they’re practical coaching tools you can apply in your next session.

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LEARNING WITH CREATIVITY, in ACTION.

At BBS Training Academy, we love learning. And we love to help others to learn. We drive our learning experience through our Student Success initiatives. Even though our courses are aimed at wellness, training, team communications and athletic development, we use techniques and approaches that can be useful for ANY student, learner, teacher, coach, manager or just anyone who is feeling out of their depth.

The main focus is on using the learning experience as a creative outlet that you can put into action. We use three main points of reference that can be helpful to ANY learner; whether you're young, an adult, or a professional.

1. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences - Edward Gardner

2. Bloom's Taxonomy - Benjamin Bloom

3. Feynman Technique - Richard Feynman

While The Theory of Multiple Intelligences is a concept that promotes our individuality and the diversity of learning capabilities within each individual (which we look at in a separate article) - Bloom's Taxonomy and the Feynman Technique are approaches that can be used by ANYONE in any topic, vocation or industry and at any age. From early schooling all the way to PhDs, or just in improving your professional skill set in your current job.

Learning for Practical Skills: Bloom's Taxonomy

What’s the difference between KNOWING SOMETHING and PUTTING YOUR KNOWLEDGE INTO PRACTICE? How will the material you learn in your CPD courses help you improve your professional skills? Bloom's Taxonomy is your “learning toolbox” that will help you identify the areas you have already mastered and the areas that you need to spend more time on. Bloom explored three areas of learning:

• Cognitive, knowledge-based learning

• Affective, emotional growth in the learning process

• Psychomotor, action-based learning

At BBS Training Academy, we use our own adaptation of Bloom's Taxonomy, in conjunction with a holistic science approach to skillset development, as a way to help staff, coaches and team leaders develop expertise within their skill set based on developing a balance between the TOOLS of the job (technical skills) and GUIDELINES (role and industry best practice, as well as internal company procedures and style).

In order to put your knowledge into practice, our adapted Bloom's Taxonomy at Work can help you self-assess your skills based on your ability to work on different levels. We have adapted and categorised the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy into three areas of practical skills for the BBS Training Syllabus into Assistant, Executive and Leadership levels.

ASSISTANT LEVEL 1. Remember - Key concepts, names and techniques - without the need for understanding.

2. Understand - Decoding the information to understand how TOOLS and GUIDELINES work together to improve your professional skills.

3. Apply - How can you use these concepts to effect meaningful change in your role?

EXECUTIVE LEVEL

4. Analyse - Examining and breaking down information into components, determining how the different parts of the tools and guidelines relate to one another to develop skills and lead others.

LEADERSHIP LEVEL

5. Evaluate - At this stage, you can analyse, critique and compare to find and use the best tools for your goals. Different goals will need different tools… can you identify and adopt the right toolset you need for a particular goal or scenario?

6. Create - Now after we have remembered, understood, applied, analysed and evaluated, we are ready to create a training program and work towards a complex goal efficiently!

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Studying Using the Feynman Technique

The Feynman Technique is an approach that we love to include as part of an interactive learning experience. It can be a helpful way to develop your own skills and approach to studying, for any topic or profession. We use the Feynman Technique to get us through the learning curve of Bloom's Taxonomy!

Richard Feynman was an American physicist who received a Nobel prize for his work in quantum electrodynamics. He was notorious for asking others to explain concepts in a simple language to test their understanding, and his passionate delivery brought to his talks and lectures visionaries such as Albert Einstein and Bill Gates. His unparalleled teaching style, condensed into 4 simple points, became known as “the best way to learn (almost) anything”.

Jonas Koblin at Sprouts Schools illustrates the concept clearly:

Feynman’s learning technique is effective for learning something new, deepening your understanding of what you already know, or helping you study for an exam.

• The first step is to pick a topic you want to understand and start studying it.

• Once you know what it is about, take a piece of paper and write about it, as if you’re teaching the idea to someone else. Ideally write and speak at the same time, just as a teacher does it on the blackboard. This makes you realise which parts you understand and where you still have gaps. Whenever you get stuck, go back to study and repeat that process until you have explained the whole topic from start to end.

• When you’re done, repeat the process from the beginning, but this time simplify your language or use a graphic analogy to make a point.

• If your explanation ends up wordy or confusing, you probably have not understood it well enough, so you should start again.

• Thinking about an idea by explaining it makes this learning method very effective. Once you can explain an idea in simple language, you have deeply understood it and will remember it for a long time.

Bringing It Back to Coaching

So, what does this all mean for you as a coach? It’s simple: if you want your participants to thrive, help them learn smarter, not just harder. Don’t stop at giving instructions - build in opportunities for deeper understanding and active thinking.

Start by asking questions that go beyond the “how” and dig into the “why.” Use Bloom’s levels as a guide:

• First, make sure they can remember and understand the skill.

• Then, push them to apply it in context. Add pressure, mix scenarios.

• Next, encourage them to analyse and evaluate what worked, what didn’t, and why.

• Finally, give them the chance to create: let them design a drill, adapt a strategy, or even lead a segment of practice.

And here’s where the Feynman Technique comes in: get your participants to teach it back. Whether it’s a partner explanation or a quick team demo, if they can explain it simply, they’ve nailed it. If not? Great! Now you know where to focus.

The best coaches don’t just develop physical skills; they develop thinking participants. When you combine Bloom’s structure with Feynman’s simplicity, you’re not just teaching sport, you’re teaching a mindset that wins on and off the field.

Try this at your next session:

Pick one skill and run it through Bloom’s stages. Then ask a participant to explain it to a teammate like they’re brand new. You’ll be surprised how powerful (and fun!) this is for both learning and team culture.