Gary Meers, Ed.D.

About me

I am an Education Advisor/Consultant for MaxKnowledge. I write courses that assist in the professional development of career college instructors. These courses range in content from the introductory level to advanced instructional development. I started my teaching career as an instructional technology teacher on the high school level, completed graduate school and then moved into higher education. I spent many years in the area of teacher training at the University of Nebraska. While at the University of Nebraska I stared working with career college instructors to improve their instructional delivery skills. As a result of these experiences I have been a consultant to career colleges throughout the United States and a number of foreign countries.

Activity

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Teaching to Multiple Intelligences

Hi Lisa, Music can be used as a form of background support while studying. I control the selection and volume of music when my students are in the study mode. I don't allow ear buds or ipods in class. I want them, just as you do to be engaged in the class. Also, with their personal selection of music they may not be able to focus on the course content due to the beat or volume of the music. The students may not ever listen to the music I select on their own but that is ok because I am… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Defining Instructional Professionalism

Hi All, Question--Can you share with us an example of an instructor that you had that to you was a model of the profession and of teaching? Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Defining Instructional Professionalism

Hi Linsey, Good point about professionalism and modeling behavior. You are setting the standard for what a person looks like in this professional setting. This is key for students to see and understand so they have an idea of how they should conduct themselves once they are out in the workplace. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Student Feedback

Hi Jody, This is the way to continually improve your instructional delivery and content selection. By listening all of us instructors can take in feedback and then develop our instruction from that. Good point. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Creating Personal Support Systems

Hi Jody, This is a really good skill to teach your students. As we know success in the workplace depends on our ability to create networks among our fellow workers. By helping the students in your courses to do such you are giving them a valuable skill early in their education. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

The Human Factor in Retention

Hi Lisa, Two essential ingredients for success. We instructors need to focus on these two as we enter the classroom each time. Thanks for sharing them with us. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Students as Class Members

Hi Julie, You are doing a number of very good things in terms of trying to create a learning community online. The meet and greet is a good way to kick off a new course. I don't have a host of strategies I can share with you. I am still working on different ways of helping the class to "gel" myself. I do a lot of one on one communicating and follow up and this helps a lot. All of us that teach online are still refining the "human" side of online teaching in conjunction with the actual content. We… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Using a Well-prepared Syllabus

Hi Sheila, Well put in terms of the role the syllabus plays in instructional planning. The "flight plan" has to be there if everyone in the class is going to be able to see the what the destination is and when they are going to arrive there. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Adapting Your Instructional Strategy

Hi Lisa, You make a very good point. The key is to help student to develop their ability to problem solve. In a service economy problem solving is critical for career success. The more we can help this component along in the education of our students the more successful they are going to be. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Adapting Your Instructional Strategy

Hi Terry, The student dialogue approach is a very good way to reinforce what has been taught. The students get to internalize and then verbalize the content. This helps to store it in their working memory for future use. Gary

End of Content