Making what you learn meaningful will help you to develop in to a smart what you are learnning to other realistic situation. Another way to be a smart learner is to take a questioning approach and think out alternative views on the same topic. You can also try to see the connection in a range of views. Connecting idea in the subject not only help your memmory, it also helps you to understand and have your own perspective. Most importantly, thinking about knew knowledge and how it relates to your life experiences will help you to learn what is valuable to you