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

Instructor Enthusiasm

Hi Dr. Couillard, Your last sentence says it all. Students stay engaged in the learning process if they are interested and having fun learning, plus it makes our teaching much easier. Thanks for sharing this with us. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Instructor Enthusiasm

Hi Joe, Thanks for sharing these two examples of the impact teachers can have on our lives. You are fortunate to have had two great teachers in your background so you can draw upon what they did in their classes as examples of what you want to do as a teacher. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Being Successful in College

Hi Danielle, Good strategy. This helps not only the student asking the question but also helps the sharing student to expand his/her communication skills when explaining a procedure or answering the question. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Reasons for Enrolling

Hi Craig, What are some of the ways that you go about learning the reasons why students have enrolled you your program and classes? Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Teaching to Multiple Intelligences

Hi Janet, You make a key point about the need to be flexible. This is a must because as you know after the extensive teaching experiences you have had the dynamics of a class can change very quickly. We always have to have a back up plan so we can adjust our instructional delivery on a as needed basis. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Creating Personal Support Systems

Hi Jill, Great strategy for involving students and helping them to learn more about their fellow students. This creates a very comfortable class environment so they can exchange information as well as life experiences as they move through the course. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Strategies for Keeping Students Engaged in Learning

Hi Michael, You raise a good point about how hard mini-lectures are to do and keep the class flowing. Your last sentence is the key. You don't have to stop the lecture but vary the instructional methods just as you say. Students seek and need variety so by changing the pace and delivery you are giving the needed breaks in instructional flow and then you can go back to the content delivery format. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Effective Retention Strategies

Hi Carol, You make a good point about being available. That personal contact is so important to students. It helps them to create a connection between you and them which encourages their continued effort. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Using a Well-prepared Syllabus

Hi Micheal, Great to hear about your progress in moving your students forward to where they are pro-active learners. This is what we all want to get to with our students as educators. You are right about them being a pleasure to teach. These kinds of students make being a teacher worth the effort of preparation and planning. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Hi Kim, Thanks for sharing this reference to Bloom's Taxonomy. This is the core of curriculum development because we have to get our students to understand the basics before we can move them to higher order thinking. If we instructors understand the sequence it is much easier to plan our content from there. Gary

End of Content