As part of my introduction to class, I always make time to find out who my students are, and a little bit of their background.
Many times I find out that, -although my class is a required class-, many of the basic principles are forgotten, or have not been applied in class enough to understand their relevance.
By asking simple questions, I try to understand the reason for that, and how I can best deliver the information to that individual group, as well as identifying at the same time, how much my students know.
typically, Age, and their work experience are the main factors that individualize each group.