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

Instructor REFOCUS

Hi Michael, Keeping excited about the material is an ongoing job so anything we can do to keep the excitement level up we need to. The use of current events helps to show the students relevancy and application which gets them motivated to do well in the course. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Instructors as Role Models

Hi Theodore, Good point about the development of the needed "soft skills" in career development. Yes, sad to say it often forgotten by students in terms of how important common courtesy is when dealing with the public. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Effective Motivation Techniques

Hi Michael, Great job of giving prompt feedback. As you know this is so important for students. This way they know both the good things they have done and the things they need to work on and they know it within 3 days of handing it in. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Effective Motivation Techniques

Hi Richard, Thank you for sharing this example. The human factor needs to be considered when dealing with students. Sounds like the common interest that you all shared about your children was enough to bridge the gap between her not wanting to be in the stats class and her being successful in it. Keep up the good work. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making a Positive First Impression

Hi Tom, Good information and advice for instructors. As you mention with all of your years of involvement with Toastmasters you know of which you speak. Sometimes new instructors forget the basics and don't set the stage the first class meeting. Then they have to play catch up for the remainder of the course. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Understanding Learner Characteristics

Hi Michael, I agree about twitter and texting in terms of limitations. It will be interesting how all these forms of communication work out in terms of the emotional development and social interaction aspects of career success in the coming years. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Your Expectations Clear

Hi Melanie, You have a very clear and comprehensive format for your courses. This method clearly guides the students as to how the course will operate and what the outcomes are going to be. This is really helpful in getting students settled into the course and ready to learn. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Sharing Comprehensive and Clear Course Requirements

Hi Sara, You are so right about needing to provide all of the course requirements at the beginning. If an instructor does not the course is going to be rocky at best when changes are made and need requirements added. If the syllabus lays out clearly the course expectations, requirements and polices then both the instructor and the students know how to operate within the course. If changes are needed they can be made with clear understanding because the students know the parameters of the course and the reasons for the changes so they don't get upset when the changes… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Instruction Relevant

Hi Mark, Good point about pretesting of students. I like to do this as well for the same reasons you shared. The results lets me plan better for their instructional needs and I have information that will enable me to be more on target for their learning preferences. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Developing Student Rapport

Hi Ted, Right you are about the need for building rapport with your students. What are some strategies that you use to develop rapport with your students. Gary

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