To contemplate is to hold a question, topic or concept lightly in one’s mind and look at from different angles. But a tweak to the general way of contemplating to leverage it as a learning tool is to come at it like you would meditation:
Find a comfortable position, sit quietly, close your eyes to reduce distraction and think of something you love to fill your heart with love and raise you to a state of love. Love is the highest state of consciousness/awareness/knowingness/genius. So being raised to this state allows you to contemplate, think and work from the highest.
Then after your feel your heart lighten up and warm with love, take the concept, topic, sentence, scenario or problem and look at it from different angles within your mind. Try to understand it. You can do this by breaking it down or combining it, playing with it or looking at it seriously. Just hold it and consider it thoughtfully as your heart it filled with love and the understanding will flow through.
The understanding or answer can happen or come immediately, or it can come at a later Aha! moment.