Rework information so it fits into a rhyming structure. Plain information is often difficult to remember because there is no rhythm or rhyme to engage the brain. Songs or poems are usually much easier to recall as they fit these structures. For instance, Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, which can be remembered by the rhyme "In fourteen hundred and ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue."
Make up an acrostic to remember a list of items such as colors, countries or scientific rules. An acrostic uses the first letter of each thing to be remember and remoulds into a catchy, easy-to remember phrase. A popular British method for children to remember the colors of the rainbow is to learn the phrase "Richard Of York Gave Battle in Vain", with the first letter of each word corresponding to a color of the rainbow. Similar rhyming structures are employed to remember months of the year.
Study with a college friend or family member. Teach them the information you have learned rather than merely reciting information by rote. Teaching information to someone else can help you retain information come exam time.
Write down some landmarks, such as subway stations, newspaper sellers or restaurant, that you cross daily when you visit college or university. Put each location on separate line on the paper. Now put a relevant piece of information from a given subject (be it capital cities or mathematical rules) next to each landmark. Learning to associate this less familiar information with information that is second nature to you can help with memory recall.
Create pictures in your head to correspond to key facts in your subject area. The stranger the pictures you can come up with the better as they are more likely to be memorable. For instance, if you are attempting to remember a certain king invaded a specific country in a certain year, build a colorful picture which intertwines the location, the king's name and the numbers in the year into one fluid animation. Practice replaying the images through your head and recalling the information will become much easier.