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

Learning from Instructor and Student Introductions

Hi Theresa, Good way to start a class. You are bringing the personal touch to the setting and this starts the development of respect and rapport. As a result the students get an opportunity to see you as a dedicated professional that is working to provide them with success opportunities. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Your Instructional Style

Hi Tenisha, Great plan for refining your instructional style. You have a global grasp of what you want to accomplish with your students and how you can do it. Keep up the good work. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Understanding learner characteristics...

Hi Janice, Good advice for teachers. Work to understand your students because then the planning for instruction will be more accurate. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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REFOCUS...

Hi Jeffrey, This little opening exercise is a good one to get the new week off to a good start. It is tough to just jump in after a weekend. By letting the students warm up a bit to being back in class you will have them engaged at a higher level. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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REFOCUS...

Hi Marshall, You make a number of good points about how to keep your content and attitude fresh. The key is to remember why you are there and who you are there for. This will help to keep those 6:30am classes worth each time. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Your Instructional Style

Hi Geneveva, Thanks for sharing all these ideas about how to develop professionally. The greatest teacher of all I believe is the trial and error teacher. You will gain much insight when you make a mistake and you will be able to teach that unit so much better the next time around. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Hi Christopher, Good professional development plan. You are getting input and gaining insight from a number of different valuable sources. This will help you to have a global picture of how instruction can be offered for the maximum benefit of the students. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Defining Instructional Professionalism

Hi Patricia, Well said. Professionalism has to be a integral part of our being if we are going to be instructors of excellence. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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The Learning Environment Effect

Hi Thomas, There are a couple of ways that might be tried in this situation. Can you bring in a clinical supervisor as a guest speaker to lay out the importance of the course content in relation to the upcoming clinical experience? How about a former patient that could talk about the need for the course content in relation to patient satisfaction? I would use some role playing in the class after covering some of the essential content so the students could see how it is applied in the "real world" thus why it is important to know it. If… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Hi Jeni, You make a good point. We need to get the students to "invest" in the course through contributions like discussions and presentations. They need to feel accepted into the course and comfortable that they have something to contribute. Gary

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