Look for ties to earlier points or readings. Reviewing for exams can help you see these. Getting a preview of where a class is heading is like the advance organizer described above. In the section on development, we mentioned the work of Jean Piaget and his use of the concept of assimilation to describe that process of incorporating new information into the way you think about things. Another way to help yourself is to make sure the material you are learning is meaningful .
Examples can be invaluable here.
Theories and abstractions abound in every discipline. Your instructors may be so immersed in the nuances of various theoretical discussions that they overlook your need to have something more concrete. Examples can provide some sense of meaningfulness, giving you something familiar, solid and understandable to serve as a reference for the various theories under study. Elaboration is one more way to support your memory. Add images if you can.