Top 10 Most Effective Learning Strategies 10. Imagery for text

1. Spaced Practice

To use Spaced Practice, help your students plan early for their exams and important tasks. When reviewing content in class, make sure you review not only the previous lesson but older content as well. Objectively, there isn’t an optimal spacing interval. However, researchers agree that the “sweet spot” is when remembering the content is doable, but effortful, so information can be reconsolidated and strengthened.

2. Retrieval Practice

To use retrieval practice, you can ask students to put away their books and write down all they can remember about a topic. Then, they should check and complement their answers. It is important that accuracy is checked to avoid misconceptions. A very good and effective idea is to provide them with as many practice tests as possible. Students can also create their own questions and exchange them with colleagues. 

3. Elaboration

This technique involves asking students to describe and explain the content in as many details as possible as well as linking it to other content and personal experiences. The advantage of using this technique is that they create multiple connections between the new piece of information and things they already know, making it easier for the relevant memory traces to be reactivated in the future. One straightforward way of using the technique of Elaboration is to tell students to pretend they are the teachers and try to explain the content to their colleagues.
Watch Dr Cal Newport explaining one way to use Elaboration in your studies: 
Another way to use Elaboration in the classroom is to ask a lot of How and Why questions. Why is this like this? How does this happen? What is the cause of this? What is the consequence of this? When did this happen?

4. Interleaving

Switching between topics and ideas is a way to use interleaving. Mixing up problems and questions that demand different solving strategies is also interleaving. Using interleaving when students are very new to a topic may not be effective as they may confuse the information. This strategy is best used when pupils are more advanced in their knowledge.