Determine your learning style. Visual learners account for 65 percent of the population and learn best by seeing information; 35 percent of people are auditory learners who learn best by hearing. The remaining five percent are tactile learners who prefer a hands-on approach to learning. Consider which teaching methods worked best for you in the past and try to supplement learning materials with aids suited for your type, such as charts and graphs for visual learners or downloadable lectures for auditory students.
Try new methods of learning. While everyone has their strengths, the brain thrives on novelty. Occasionally finding a new method of learning, especially one that goes against your most natural learning style--such as a visual learner writing things down or an auditory learner drawing charts--keeps you from becoming overly reliant on one method of learning and better prepares you for those times when you cannot use your most natural learning method.
Don't cram. Quality of study means more than quantity--cramming for six hours the night before an exam or presentation is not as effective as taking an hour each day for a week or month to review the material. Not only do you spend more time on the material, this low-stress method allows you to absorb information at your own pace.
Engage with your learning. Rather than just sitting there during lessons, be an active participant in learning by taking notes, asking questions, thinking of problems with the information and speaking with the instructor after class. Being an active participant in the learning gets your whole mind and body involved, making it more exciting, more meaningful and more fun.
Use what you have learned. If information is useful, it is meaningful, and thus more likely to be remembered. If you learned new words, try working them into a sentence. The next time you go out in a group, try observing a new theory of social science you learned. Bring up new facts about history the next time you see your history-buff friend. The more new information is rehearsed and used, the better it will stay with you.
Cultivate a positive attitude. According to the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, keeping an optimistic and positive attitude towards learning engenders curiosity, love of learning and creativity, which results in higher grades and less depression. These positive feelings can be created through exercises, such as focusing on and utilizing your personal strengths and listing good things that happened to you during the week and reflecting on their significance.
Set realistic goals. Reaching goals boosts self-esteem, and having a clear objective to work towards makes you approach the learning material with focus and determination. Keep setting new, more difficult goals after the first one has been reached. For example, if you are floundering in algebra, make it a goal to get a B- next term. Once you do that, set your sights for a B+, then an A.
Crystallize your thoughts on what you have learned by writing about it. This writing does not have to be any profound piece, just something to help you meditate on the new information, associate it with what you already know and perhaps see it in a new light and understand it differently.
Find a study partner or tutor. Your tutor is like your personal trainer for learning. More than a friend, a good tutor will sit with you, observe your work, give you honest feedback and answer any questions you may have. This need not necessarily be an expert who will charge you by the hour for his services. It is important that your partner knows what he is doing and that neither of you waste time with idle chitchat.
Eliminate distractions. Turn off your phone, TV and MP3 player and give yourself room to focus on the task at hand. The silence will be distracting at first, but in time you will see the power of focusing your full attention on one task.