Build on what you know

Retrieval is so effective is that it strengthens the neural pathways associated with a given concept.

When you're attempting to recall an idea, method, or technique from memory, you're retrieving. Flash cards are a great example: They force you to recall an idea from memory, unlike a technique like highlighting where you're not burning anything into your brain. 

... to what you already know.

When you try to put a new idea into your own words, you're elaborating.

For example, if you're in physics class and trying to understand heat transfer, try to tie the concept into your real-life experiences, say, by imagining how a warm cup of coffee disperses heat into your hands.

• Meditate to improve working memory. Take a pause to empty your mind and to reduce stress.
• Although still debatable, drink coffee to help improve memory consolidation.
• Eat berries for better long-term memory. Berries contain flavanoids,  which appear to strengthen connections in the brain.
• Exercise not only to improve memory recall, but also to enhance cognitive abilities.
• Chew gum to make stronger memories. It is proven that it increases activity in the hippocampus. It also increases heart rate which causes more blood to flow in the brain.
• Sleep more to consolidate and easily remember memories.

Even just thinking that you'll need to teach someone can make you learn more effectively.

Teaching means seeking out key points and organizing information into a coherent structure. 

Connect what you just learned to experiences you previously had.

Associative learning is the process of relating something new to something you already know.

1. Learners proficient in fast-paced games are significantly faster at performing new cognitive tasks.
2. By pretending you are teaching something to someone using simple language, you understand it better.
3. Bilingual people may have a leg up when it comes to understanding new things and processing information, regardless of the learned language.
4. Learning new material right before sleeping provides a significant retention advantage.
5. Establishing as many connections as possible is an effective way to learn, and the best way to do that is to relate new information to known information. 
6. The brain processes visual information faster than text. Include relevant visuals (charts, symbols, diagrams…) with learning materials to improve retention.

Is the idea that we learn unconsciously through our senses in a self-regulated way, without requiring external reinforcement. 

More simply, you can learn to intuitively identify different situations or images through directly experiencing them in a fast-paced manner.

Most learning techniques with lots of theory and colorful infographics do not assist in making the information stick in our minds.

There is a need for ‘desirable difficulties’ which exercise our minds and translate into long-term retention of knowledge.

.. or a Q&A session primes the brain to absorb the information afterward, and failing to answer it initially is part of the game.

The brain needs to know that it doesn’t know.

• Get a good night's sleep or take a power nap after learning something new, to help retain and retrieve memories better. Sleep deprivation and acquisition of too much information will not help you save those memories.
• Get moving, to improve the flow of oxygen-rich blood in your brain and to trigger neuron growth and new connections in the brain - critical for memory.
• Improve your diet. Fats from food can build up the brain, resulting to poor blood flow.

Any system or device designed to aid memory:

• patterns of letters or words (common mnemonics)
• ideas (memory palace)
• associations (chunking)

Despite having easy access to information, few people take full advantage of the opportunity we have for self-directed learning.

We still believe that in order to learn something, we need to be formally educated on it, when in fact we're able to educate ourselves.

Self-education is the core skill for the 21st century.

Our ability to respond to changes in the landscape of work and technology will be dictated by how skilled self-educators we are, how well we can take full advantage of the information available to us to grow our skillset.

Testing yourself, so you have to retrieve the information from memory, works much better than repeatedly reviewing the information, or creating a concept map (mind map).

After the first time learning the material, spend the subsequent studying to recalling the information, solving a problem or explaining the idea without glancing at the source.

• Mock tests and exams that are identical in style and form.
• Redo problems from assignments, textbook questions or quizzes.
• Generate your own questions or writing prompts based on the material.

A memory chunk is a solid connection in your mind that relates various bits and pieces of information. 

Focus on the concept you want to form a chunk of. Write down the basic ideas of what the concept is all about. Build up from these fundamentals to finally create a chunk.

While reviewing material, recall it instead of just reading it passively. Try and recall in a different setting than where you studied it.