I agree that Education Risk is huge factor in not only knowledge retention, but also class retention and satisfaction. Many of our students are returning, changing careers and just plain new to health care. I've found that associating as much as possible with their personal experience not only increases their retention (emotional attachment to information in the midbrain), but also increases their confidence level. They're more quickly able and willing to take risks in the classroom. I encourage them when a term reminds them of a word they've encountered as a patient or caregiver navigating the medical system, to explore it's meaning and how it's related to the term we're learning.