a really effective way i study is with small notebooks. i have two notebooks, one normal sized school notebook all my teachers mark and see and a smaller more portable notebook. in class while the teacher is talking and explaining methods and theories, i write down the most important points- or if she has a presentation on, i write down the essentials there. once i get home, i open that notebook and elaborate on those notes and make more detailed and attractive ones in my bigger notebook that i usually hand to my teahcers. this really helped me!