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I recommend using anki: http://ankisrs.net/

The basic idea is you make electronic flashcards based on the material you need to memorize. Then the program quizzes you. If you get a question wrong, you will see that question again in a few minutes. If you get it right, the program doesn't show it to you for a few days.

People use systems like this to memorize vast amounts of information b/c human memory periodically runs garbage collection on unused data. If you recall the desired info at the right intervals, you get around that problem and can shove all sorts of facts into your long term memory. I use it for studying languages, but it can apply to anything. The Jeopardy super champion used anki to memorize trivia in preparation for the show, so I think it should work nicely for college classes.

As free, open-source learning software (that I've loved for years), it seems right up Slashdot's alley. Except for the fact that this Anki didn't pay for slashvertising.

Anki has free flashcards about any topic you can imagine.
Open source runs on Linux, Mac, Windows, Android, Blackberry, web.
A session is 10 minutes by default, but you can change it to 1 minute.
I use it even when I know I only have 20 seconds (ex: queueing)
http://ankisrs.net/

And the more a person (any person) actually uses what they learn, the greater their likelihood of retention.

Retention through repetition? You want this gem:
http://ankisrs.net/

I use Anki to learn and memorize facts.

Looks like an interesting program. I might have to check it out. That said I've never really been good with flash cards myself. I tend to remember stuff more by associating it with the location I learned it.

When memorizing phone numbers and the like, I type them in so that Anki can check my answer. Then when I get to the phone I find that my muscle-memory is not only useless, it is actually a hindrance.

Have you considered installing a keyboard layout which reverses the number pad that you can type with the "correct" layout?

When you need to remember a phone number, do you not mentally punch it into an imaginary phone?

I can see how some would remember that way. I don't for most things, with the exception of some C64 basic keywords that I think of in Qwerty ( even though I program mostly in Dvorak these days ) and passwords as a web of lines for when I type them disjoint from the memory of what the password actually is. I tend to recall numbers ( and words ) as a whole and then just think the number as my fingers worry about about what key they have to type without really being aware of the keys or individual numbers involved. Alas I tend to give the various component numbers out of order if I'm try to recall them as digits. For example 123-456-7890. If not careful I would give the speak the digits as 7 - 89 - 0h - 4 - 56 - 1 - 23, even though I would dial or type them correctly. I'm pretty consistent in this type of mistake, which has some funny results when I'm doing team programming.

"This number should be 7 89 04 56 1 23 here." Types 123-456-7890. Other person "Don't you mean: 1 23 4 56 78 90". Me: "That's what I... I did it again didn't I?"

Since the whole thread has gone into ridicule, let me defend myself (OP):
I use Anki to learn and memorize facts. When memorizing phone numbers and the like, I type them in so that Anki can check my answer. Then when I get to the phone I find that my muscle-memory is not only useless, it is actually a hindrance.

I have no problem operating either type of device, but the dichotomy puts up barriers where there could be bridges. When you need to remember a phone number, do you not mentally punch it into an imaginary phone? That spatial-memory device won't work if you sometimes type the number on a 1-2-3 keypad and other times on a 7-8-9 keypad.

I know that there are those of us who like to learn, and therefore use efficient memory techniques, and that there are those who ridicule those of us who learn. On a website for geeks, I had expected to find the former, not the latter.

I just donated to Anki last week. I've donated to Wine and KDE and at least ten other software projects that I use.

The lack of a spaced repetition-algorithm in Moodle--or any other course management system, such as Blackboard or Sakai--is a such a glaring omission that I wonder why no one has done it. SuperMemo, a Windows program written in Delphi, remains the best spaced repetition system for memorization despite an idiosyncratic user interface. Piotr Wozniak, the developer of SuperMemo, used it to learn English; an article in Wired mentions that Wozniak speaks perfect English despite never having set foot in an English-speaking country. In addition to SuperMemo, there are two open source spaced-repetition systems: Anki and Mnemosyne. But the algorithms have yet to be incorporated into online learning systems.

An extensive literature attests to the efficacy of spaced repetition algorithms, especially for learning language. I've used SuperMemo to make quick work of memorizing the FCC question pools for the General and Extra class amateur radio examinations. In fact, the program was so efficient that I was left with hardly any sense of accomplishment having used it to pass the exams.

The need for memorization algorithms is so obvious (I repeat myself) that I'm tempted to write a spaced-repetition plugin for Moodle myself.