Here are the dictionary definitions of "internalize." 1. To make internal, personal, or subjective: "Protean man internalizes the longing for immortality through an ongoing process of death and rebirth within himself" (Henry S. Resnik). 2. To take in and make an integral part of one's attitudes or beliefs: "She had internalized the cultural values of the Poles after a year of living in Warsaw." 3.(Psychology) to make internal, to incorporate within oneself (values, attitudes, etc.) through learning or socialization. In your sentence "how to internalize academic knowledge", means " how to make your make the values that you learn through academic knowledge a part of yourself." For example, if you studied different world cultures, then your attitudes to other people should become more open minded and more tolerant than before.