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.

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Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Accommodating Learner Preferences

Hi Kerry, I appreciate your kind words. My personal opinion is that the PPs are offered as value added inclusions to get instructors to adopt a certain textbook. Sometimes I think they forget how to deliver the content with the PPs and get carried away with glitch. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Teaching to Multiple Intelligences

Hi Joseph, By doing what you outlined in your comments your are appealing to the different intelligences that the students have in your class. You are offering variety that will help to keep them focused and engaged. Keep up the good work. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Teaching to Multiple Intelligences

Hi Amy, This is a good way to spread the instructional opportunities while appealing to the different intelligences and learning preferences. This helps to keep the students more engaged in the process. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Accommodating Learner Preferences

Hi Kerry, You can use learning groups where the students work together on new content. Also, you can have students do mini-presentations on different topics. Create a game like Jeopardy or create teams and have competitions. What you will find with this kind of variety is that you can use PowerPoint when you need to because students are not being shown a PP every day. Make sure the PP is brief to the point, colorful, graphic and not filled with too much text and the students won't mind it near as much. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Setting Expectations

Hi Stephanie, Your way of opening a new class is a good one. You give the students the expectations, requirements, and polices of the class. This reduces student frustration and enables you to then start sharing information about the course content. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Expanding Your Instructional Abilities

Hi Grace, Good plan. This will help you to expand your knowledge of the different delivery options available to you. This way you can develop expertise in other areas while relying on your strength as a demonstrator. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Expanding Your Instructional Abilities

Hi Meron, Good question about how to manage discussion. Your method of limiting the time allowed for a certain topic helps to keep the class moving forward and doesn't let any one topic or student control the discussion. Also, by making public the time limit you are able to manage the discussion so it doesn't get to far off topic and if it does you know you can stop it with the time limit without embarrassing anyone. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Preparing and Delivering Effective Lectures

Hi Dana, Good strategies for getting the students to think and become engaged in the course. Thanks for sharing these ideas with us. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Hi Scott, This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing it with us. The outcomes from this mentor mixup have tremendous benefits. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Hi Scott, Right you are about needing to mix things up with the instructional delivery methods. I teach in the same format so I know how hard we must work to keep the students engaged and focused for the duration of the class. Gary

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