Learning methods

Hello all, sorry if this is a long and unusal question..
Are there any professional teachers here, or professionals who have studied learning methods?
I am determined to get the very best from the software, but wonder if I am. 
For example, i complete each of the "writing practice" exercises twice, back to back, which in my mind means that I am cementing my learning, but on the second run through I'm concerned that I may just have blindly memorised each answer.  I do stop and research every part I get wrong if I don't see my mistake, but I'm still concerned I'm just being a parrot.
So, over to the professionals, what would you recommed for best learning practice in this software?
Thanks