There are three ways to making information meaningful:
Organization: gives order and connections to incoming information. Internal links or links inside you. Examples: Concept Maps, Sequences, Models, etc.
Elaboration: connecting new information to information you already know, background knowledge or external connections. Examples: Mnemonics, Analogies (recognizing similarities), etc.
Level of Activity: amount or depth you processed. Examples: explaining, giving facts to back things up, making a hypothesis (a guess as to how things will turn out), etc.
Must Understand Information Not Just Memorize!
Elaboration: connecting new information to information you already know, background knowledge or external connections. Examples: Mnemonics, Analogies (recognizing similarities), etc.
Level of Activity: amount or depth you processed. Examples: explaining, giving facts to back things up, making a hypothesis (a guess as to how things will turn out), etc.
Must Understand Information Not Just Memorize!
An example of this idea that information must mean something to those trying to learn it is:
Scientist gave college kids lines to remember lines to remember. Some student's lines were mixed up and didn't follow a story and other student's lines followed an understandable story that even had a main idea. Not only did the more times the student's practicing the lines help them remember them more easily, but also the lines that followed a story with a main idea seemed to remember the lines better (Meyers and Boldrick, 1975).
Scientist gave college kids lines to remember lines to remember. Some student's lines were mixed up and didn't follow a story and other student's lines followed an understandable story that even had a main idea. Not only did the more times the student's practicing the lines help them remember them more easily, but also the lines that followed a story with a main idea seemed to remember the lines better (Meyers and Boldrick, 1975).