10 Best YouTube Channels to Learn How to Learn (and Remember More)

A student watches a beautifully edited video about studying smarter. It explains active recall, spaced repetition, note-taking, and concentration. She feels inspired. She saves the video, subscribes to the channel, and watches three more.

A week later, her revision routine looks exactly the same.

That is the great paradox of learning advice on YouTube: you can know an impressive amount about how to learn without changing the way you actually learn. Discovering the right channels is useful, but turning one idea into a habit is what makes the difference.

So which YouTube channels are worth your attention if you want to learn how to learn? This guide selects 10 English-language channels and video series for students, university learners, teachers, parents, and lifelong learners. Rather than ranking them by subscriber count or dramatic promises, it compares their purpose, the types of learning they help with, their limitations, and one activity to try after watching.

The short answer: Start with The Learning Scientists for research-grounded strategies, Crash Course Study Skills for an accessible introduction, and Stephen Chew’s study series for a clear explanation of why common methods fail. Then choose more specialized creators according to your particular challenge. Above all, stop the video and practice.

What does “learning how to learn” actually mean?

Learning how to learn is the ability to select, use, monitor, and adapt strategies for acquiring knowledge and developing skills. It includes asking useful questions: What do I already know? What am I trying to master? How will I practise? How will I know whether I can explain or apply it without help?

The term metacognition refers to thinking about and regulating your own thinking and learning. It does not mean that you must analyze every second of your study session. It means developing enough awareness to notice when a strategy is working—and when it needs to change.

Evidence matters here. A major review by Dunlosky and colleagues found particularly broad support for practice testing and distributed practice. Rereading and highlighting can have limited uses, but relying on them alone is often less productive than actively retrieving and applying information.

A useful learning channel therefore does more than make you feel motivated. It helps you do at least one of four things: understand a new principle; choose an appropriate technique; practise a skill; or check and improve your own performance.

At a glance: Which channel should you choose?

Channel or video seriesBest forStart by practisingThe Learning ScientistsEvidence-informed learning strategiesRetrieval practiceCrash Course Study SkillsComplete beginners and high-school studentsNote-taking and exam planningStephen Chew / Samford UniversityUnderstanding study misconceptionsSelf-testing after readingBenjamin KeepCritical thinking about study adviceDesigning a learning experimentJustin SungComplex topics and conceptual connectionsExplaining a concept mapAli AbdaalExam revision and effective routinesActive recall plus spacingThomas FrankOrganization, note-taking, practical habitsA workable weekly systemMike and Matty (formerly Cajun Koi Academy)Engaging study routines and explanationTeach-backMed School InsidersHeavy information loads and revisionWell-designed flashcardsKhan AcademyYounger students, families, and teachersPractice after instruction

This is an editorial selection, not a scientific ranking of channels. Research can support a learning technique without establishing that one video creator produces better outcomes than another.

1. The Learning Scientists: Best for evidence-informed learning strategies

Explore The Learning Scientists on YouTube.

If you subscribe to only one channel specifically to understand learning research, this is an excellent place to begin. The Learning Scientists translate cognitive psychology into explanations that teachers and learners can actually use.

Their six strategies video collection covers retrieval practice, spaced practice, elaboration, interleaving, concrete examples, and dual coding. These strategies address different questions. Retrieval asks you to bring information to mind. Spacing asks when you will revisit it. Elaboration asks how ideas relate. Interleaving can help you practise distinguishing among types of problems.

What makes it valuable: The emphasis is on principles, not miraculous shortcuts. Teachers can use the videos to introduce a technique and then design opportunities for pupils to apply it. Parents can learn why asking a child to explain yesterday’s lesson is often more informative than asking whether the child reread the page.

A limitation: Understanding six techniques does not automatically tell you which one to use in a particular subject. A beginning learner sometimes needs an example or guided practice before independent retrieval becomes productive.

Try this: Watch the retrieval-practice explanation, close the video, and write three questions about what you learned. Answer them without looking. Check the gaps and revisit the questions two days later.

2. Crash Course Study Skills: Best structured starting point

Open the official Crash Course Study Skills series.

The wider Crash Course channel is famous for concise explanations across academic subjects. Its Study Skills series, presented by Thomas Frank, is especially relevant here because it teaches students how to approach learning itself.

Episodes tackle taking notes, reading assignments, memory, planning and organization, focus, procrastination, exams, anxiety, essays, and exercise. Instead of starting with an abstract theory of cognition, the series begins with situations that learners recognize: too much material, unclear notes, a looming deadline, or difficulty starting.

What makes it valuable: The short, sequential format makes it easy to build a mini-course. It is suitable for secondary-school learners, first-year university students, and educators who want accessible material for a study-skills workshop.

For example, begin with Taking Notes: Crash Course Study Skills #1. Compare the note-taking methods with what you currently do rather than copying the video’s suggested system uncritically.

A limitation: A fast-paced explanation can make a strategy look easier than it is. It is better to work through one episode and apply it than to binge the complete series.

Try this: After the note-taking episode, redesign the notes from one actual lesson. The next day, put those notes away and reconstruct the main argument from memory.

3. Stephen Chew and Samford University: Best for correcting misconceptions

Watch the five-part How to Get the Most Out of Studying series.

Psychologist Stephen Chew created this series to explain why students can work very hard yet learn less than expected. His central concern is not that learners lack effort; it is that they may misunderstand what understanding and memory require.

The five videos explore beliefs about learning, how learning actually works, cognitive principles, how to apply those principles, and what to do after an unsuccessful examination. Universities have used the series as a study-skills resource, and Samford University describes the project and its origins.

What makes it valuable: It challenges the feeling that a familiar-looking chapter must already be mastered. Chew encourages learners to distinguish confident recognition from the ability to answer a question independently.

A limitation: The production style is older and less polished than some contemporary YouTube channels. That does not make its explanations outdated, but viewers expecting rapid editing may need to adjust their expectations.

Try this: Read a short passage, then close it. Write a complete explanation and one example. Compare your answer against the original text, noting not only what you forgot but what you misunderstood.

4. Benjamin Keep: Best for questioning popular study advice

Explore Benjamin Keep’s YouTube channel.

Benjamin Keep brings a learning-science perspective to questions that students frequently encounter: Is a study technique supported by evidence? Does an attractive method actually produce durable knowledge? What matters more—the tool or the way it is used?

His videos are particularly useful for viewers who already know terms such as active recall and spaced repetition but want to reason more carefully about their application.

What makes it valuable: He is a useful counterweight to simplistic study content. If a creator claims that one technique works for every learner in every discipline, the appropriate response is to ask what was measured, in which conditions, and compared with what.

A limitation: A discussion about studies and research design may feel less immediately actionable to students who need help planning tomorrow’s homework. Beginners might start with Crash Course and return here when they want more depth.

Try this: Pick one study claim from any video—for example, “flashcards are always the best way to learn.” Ask where the claim applies, where it might not, and what a small test in your own subject could reveal. Do not confuse a personal experiment with formal evidence.

5. Justin Sung: Best for connecting complex ideas

Visit Justin Sung’s channel.

Justin Sung focuses heavily on how students can process difficult information, connect concepts, and move beyond collecting notes. This makes his channel especially relevant to university learners working with complex material in biology, medicine, law, or other concept-rich subjects.

A recurring idea in this kind of study advice is that knowing isolated facts is different from understanding the relationships among them. When you can identify causes, exceptions, examples, and implications, you have more routes into a topic.

What makes it valuable: The channel can encourage learners to ask higher-order questions rather than copying definitions endlessly. It offers an alternative to organizing your studies around beautiful but rarely used notebooks.

A limitation: Some explanations and branded frameworks are more elaborate than the evidence needed to justify a particular technique. Do not assume that a proprietary system has been independently validated just because parts of it resemble established cognitive principles. Nor should complex diagrams replace actual practice and feedback.

Try this: Take a concept you are studying. Sketch four linked ideas, explain each connection aloud, and then answer a problem that requires those connections. If the explanation collapses without the diagram, that tells you what to work on.

6. Ali Abdaal: Best for exam preparation and practical retrieval

Watch Ali Abdaal’s evidence-based studying masterclass.

Ali Abdaal’s study videos helped make terms like active recall and spaced repetition familiar to a much wider audience. His longer masterclass covers understanding material, revision planning, flashcards, interleaving, memory methods, and managing distractions.

What makes it valuable: He connects ideas to concrete workflows. Learners who want to know how to turn a chapter into revision questions or organize review sessions will find the step-by-step format accessible.

His earlier video on evidence-based revision is a particularly direct introduction to retrieval practice.

A limitation: His wider channel also covers productivity, technology, and entrepreneurship. Those subjects can be interesting without being directly relevant to learning science. Some study advice is framed through his own experiences, and success in one demanding course does not establish universal effectiveness.

Try this: Before reviewing a topic, write five exam-style questions. Answer them from memory. Use your mistakes to decide which ideas need a fresh explanation or a later review—not to label yourself as a poor learner.

7. Thomas Frank: Best for turning ideas into a workable routine

Explore Thomas Frank’s channel.

Thomas Frank has produced practical explanations of studying, note-taking, focus, organization, and productivity for students. As the presenter of Crash Course Study Skills, he is already familiar to many learners, but his independent channel offers more detailed explorations of specific systems.

A useful starting point is How to Study Effectively: 7 Key Tips for Students, which discusses manageable sessions, environments, note-taking, and active engagement with material.

What makes it valuable: Many learners know what they ought to do but struggle to arrange a week in which it actually happens. Frank’s practical attention to planning and tools can help close that gap.

A limitation: Productivity can turn into its own distraction. Spending two hours customizing a study app is not necessarily better than spending twenty minutes solving problems. Treat templates as optional supports, never as evidence of learning.

Try this: Build a modest weekly plan with two short review slots for one difficult topic. Use it for seven days before adding any extra software or organizational layers.

8. Mike and Matty: Best for engaging study systems and teach-back

Visit Mike and Matty on YouTube.

The channel previously known as Cajun Koi Academy is associated with brothers Mike and Matty. Its earlier videos explain study routines, concentration, and methods for handling demanding material. The current branding is broader, so learners looking specifically for study advice may find older videos the most relevant.

One example is How I Study Smarter, Not Harder, which frames learning around selecting information, building connections, and challenging your understanding.

What makes it valuable: The energetic explanations can help a hesitant student start experimenting rather than endlessly searching for the perfect technique. The teach-back idea—explaining something clearly to another person—also offers a straightforward way to reveal gaps.

A limitation: Channel branding, commercial offerings, and topic emphasis evolve. Highly motivating titles should not be mistaken for controlled research, and “study faster” should never become pressure to sacrifice sleep or comprehension.

Try this: Learn one concept, put the source away, and teach it to a friend in three minutes. Ask the friend to pose one question you did not anticipate. Repair the explanation, then try again.

9. Med School Insiders: Best for managing dense information

Start with Study LESS, Study SMART.

Med School Insiders addresses students preparing for demanding academic and professional pathways. Its earlier study videos discuss active versus passive learning, learning environments, memory techniques, spaced review, and flashcards.

Another practical example is Most Effective Way to Improve Memory, which includes discussion of spaced review and flashcard use.

What makes it valuable: Learners with a large quantity of material can see how to structure revision rather than repeatedly read everything. It can also help students realize that memory techniques are most useful when paired with understanding and repeated opportunities to retrieve knowledge.

A limitation: Medical training has particular demands, especially the volume of factual information. A flashcard system that works for anatomy vocabulary may not be enough for writing an argument or developing an original interpretation. Adapt methods to the learning goal.

Try this: Create six flashcards, each asking a single clear question. After reviewing them, solve a short application problem. Check whether you can use the facts as well as remember them.

10. Khan Academy: Best for younger learners and learning through practice

Visit Khan Academy on YouTube.

Khan Academy is primarily known for teaching academic subjects, but it also provides helpful material on the process of learning. Its growth mindset conversation with Carol Dweck and its Learn to Learn curriculum are good starting points for families and teachers.

The curriculum addresses concentration, spaced repetition, metacognition, and learning beliefs. Crucially, Khan Academy’s broader platform combines explanations with exercises, allowing learners to move from listening to attempting work.

What makes it valuable: It is accessible to younger learners and gives adults a constructive language for discussing mistakes and progress. Rather than declaring that a child is simply “good” or “bad” at a subject, a teacher can ask what the learner knows, what remains unclear, and what kind of practice might help.

A limitation: Positive messages about growth are insufficient on their own. Encouragement must come with appropriate instruction, feedback, sufficient resources, and opportunities to practise. A student cannot build mastery merely by believing that improvement is possible.

Try this: After a video, attempt the corresponding practice questions before returning to the explanation. Record one mistake, the reason for it, and one change you will make on the next attempt.

How can you use YouTube to learn instead of just watching?

Most people do not need ten subscriptions. They need a method for turning one useful video into observable progress.

Use the watch–retrieve–apply–review cycle:

1. Choose a question. Search for something specific: “How can I remember biology vocabulary after a week?” is more useful than “How do I become a genius?”

2. Watch selectively. Choose one video that addresses the question. Pause when an explanation introduces an important principle.

3. Retrieve. Close the tab and explain the idea from memory without rewatching the answer.

4. Apply. Use the technique in your own material, whether it is a math problem, a historical comparison, a vocabulary set, or an essay outline.

5. Check. Compare your result against a source, a worked example, a teacher’s feedback, or a test question.

6. Review later. Return after a delay. What you can retrieve tomorrow is a more meaningful signal than what felt easy during playback.

Imagine a student struggling with chemistry reactions. Watching four videos about memory may make study feel productive, but a stronger session would involve watching one explanation of spaced practice, creating a few questions about the reactions, attempting them without notes, checking mistakes, and scheduling another attempt.

A teacher can support that change by asking, “What can you do now that you could not do before the video?” This question shifts the focus from video completion to learning.

A practical seven-day “learn how to learn” challenge

You do not have to overhaul your entire timetable. Try one small experiment.

Day 1 — Notice your current habits. Choose one subject and write down how you usually study it. Distinguish reading, watching, note-taking, solving, and self-testing.

Day 2 — Learn one principle. Watch one video from The Learning Scientists or Stephen Chew. Write a two-sentence explanation in your own words.

Day 3 — Test it. Use retrieval practice on material you have already been taught. Keep questions within reach of your present knowledge.

Day 4 — Check and repair. Identify what was forgotten or misunderstood, then consult the relevant explanation and try a related question.

Day 5 — Apply somewhere new. Use the same idea in another chapter or a different kind of task. Do not expect identical results; pay attention to what needs adapting.

Day 6 — Revisit after a gap. Return to Day 3’s questions without first rereading the answers. This is your chance to notice what lasted.

Day 7 — Reflect. Ask: What did I remember? What could I explain? Where did I need help? What should I keep, adapt, or abandon next week?

This challenge does not measure a channel’s scientific effectiveness. It is simply a feasible way to become a more attentive, independent learner.

How can teachers and parents use these channels responsibly?

For a teacher, an eight-minute video can be an excellent introduction to a technique, but it is not the lesson’s finish line. A useful sequence is explain → model → practise together → practise independently → review evidence of understanding.

A teacher introducing retrieval practice might show a video from The Learning Scientists, model how to recall yesterday’s material, ask the class to answer three short questions without notes, and discuss what to do when an answer is incomplete. The following week, students return to those questions. The teacher observes whether the technique improves access to the relevant knowledge rather than assuming success because pupils enjoyed the video.

Parents can use the same principle without turning home life into permanent testing. One or two curious questions after a video—“What surprised you?” or “Can you show me an example?”—may be more useful than asking whether the child has finished watching every item on a playlist.

This also explains the difference between teaching a strategy and coaching its independent use. An educator may first demonstrate spaced retrieval, then gradually help the learner decide when and how to use it. This progression from external guidance to self-regulation is central to Learning Coach’s educational approach.

If you work with students and want to explore how questioning, feedback, observation, and learner autonomy can become part of your teaching practice, discover the Learning Coach training pathways. Check the program details and current availability before applying.

Readers interested in broader reflections on learning can also browse the Learning Coach English books catalogue.

What should you be cautious about when following study creators?

Beware of universal prescriptions. A method can be helpful under specific conditions without being the best tool for every problem. Flashcards may serve factual recall well but require supplementation for writing, problem-solving, and creative work.

Beware of labels that box learners in. Claims that every child has one fixed “visual,” “auditory,” or “kinesthetic” learning style are not a reliable basis for matching instruction. Clear explanations often benefit from appropriate combinations of words, examples, diagrams, and practice.

Beware of optimization without learning. Better schedules, apps, and stationery may reduce friction. They are not substitutes for mental effort, feedback, and practice.

Beware of neuroscience used as a sales pitch. Brain terminology can be illuminating, but words such as dopamine, neuroplasticity, and cognitive load should not be treated as magic explanations or guarantees.

Beware of overconsumption. More learning videos are not necessarily better. If a student spends ninety minutes researching how to study and only ten minutes doing the task, the balance probably needs to change.

Finally, remember that a YouTube channel is neither a diagnostic service nor a replacement for individualized educational support when a learner has persistent or complex difficulties.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best YouTube channel for learning how to learn?

There is no objectively established winner. For an evidence-oriented start, try The Learning Scientists. For a structured beginner course, choose Crash Course Study Skills. For a deeper explanation of why studying often fails, watch Stephen Chew’s series.

Is YouTube good for learning study skills?

Yes, when videos are chosen carefully and paired with retrieval, application, feedback, and review. Watching alone may introduce an idea; learning requires doing something with it.

Can I learn faster with active recall and spaced repetition?

These are well-supported approaches for many academic learning goals, particularly long-term retention. However, gains depend on the material, the quality of practice, prior knowledge, and how the techniques are implemented. “Faster” should not be interpreted as guaranteed results or effortless mastery.

How many learning channels should a student follow?

Start with one or two complementary sources. Watch enough to understand a method, then spend more time applying it to real work than consuming more study advice.

The real lesson: Learn to direct your own learning

The most useful YouTube channel is not the one that offers the boldest promise or the most beautifully organized notes. It is the one that helps you notice a learning problem, choose an appropriate response, and evaluate what happened.

Use these channels as a starting point rather than a substitute for experience. Watch less indiscriminately, practise more deliberately, and make the ability to learn independently the skill that lasts.

Resources and further reading

• Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest.

• The Learning Scientists. Six Strategies for Effective Learning: Video Resources.

• The Learning Scientists. How Students Can Use Spacing and Retrieval Practice.

• Samford University. Unique Video Series Helps Students Learn to Study.

• Crash Course. Official Study Skills Series.

• Khan Academy. Learn to Learn: Learning Science Curriculum.