I’ve never seen any magic tricks that seemed to work, what you need is repetition. So, start by not waiting for the last minute and cramming, start your studying process from day one. I think you need to process the information in as many ways as possible, so go to class and take notes, even if everything is supplied in a powerpoint, because writing it down forces your brain to process the information. Then read the text, and try to reproduce the information in your own words. Check your work, and if you didn’t get something, go over it again. Finally, help anyone else in your classes that you can. If you teach the material to someone else in your own words, you will really know it. So now you are listening to the material (lecture), reading the material (text and notes), writing the material (notes and reproducing in your own words, and speaking the material (helping fellow students). By processing it in all these ways, you will learn it.