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.

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Using a Well-prepared Syllabus

Hi Scott, Good way to show how you have experienced being a student and that you understand where they are coming from. This helps in relating to their current situations. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Creating Personal Support Systems

Hi Arturo, Your comments about student support are very targeted in terms of student success. By being there for them and encouraging them as needed you will develop rapport with the students and can help them make progress in their career development. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Student Feedback

Hi Pat, Good point about how we need to be on "watch" for the students and how they are "connected" to either the class or technology. Lets hope it is connected to the class but in many cases it is technology such as the ipod you mentioned. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Feeling Accepted Helps with Success

Hi Skip, This is so important for the students. Support through feedback and constructive criticism shows the students that you really care about them and their success. It also helps them to continue in the develop of their skill sets needed for career success later. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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The Learning Environment Effect

Hi Mario, You are doing a great service to and for your students by offering them the chance to develop their skills in a simulated setting. This will help them to see the big picture of the career they are preparing to enter. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Instructors as Role Models

Hi Julie, You are so right about how important the "career or soft skills" are to student success. If they don't have these skills they will not be successful even if they have the technical skills since they won't be able to work with others, show up at work and solve problems. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Learning from Instructor and Student Introductions

Hi Cheryl, Good comments about how to get to know your students better. This is why rapport is so important to teaching success. The students need to respect you and feel that they can look to you for support and encouragement. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Strategies for Increasing Student Motivation

Hi Alan, Great plan for providing support to your students as needed. This way you can engage students that are not doing as well and need some encouragement as well as remediation. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Your Instructional Style

Hi Nicole, Welcome to the profession of teaching. I know you are going to enjoy having the opportunity to impact the lives of your students while sharing your excitement about your field. To me this is as good as it gets in terms of being in the field as well as sharing the field. Your professional development plan is a good one and you are going to be surprised at how quickly you develop expertise as a presenter. As you say practice is the key. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Creating Personal Support Systems

Hi Warren, This is why it is so important to give them study guides and sample questions. This way they can reduce their fears about success because they know the format of the questions. This isn't to say they won't be nervous but they will feel that at least they can understand what they are going to be tested over and how to study for the tests. Gary

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