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

Understanding learner characteristics...

Hi Christine, Good way to use the life experiences of your students and bring real life into the classroom. The learning and sharing between each other is a great way for them to see how they are going to have to work with others when they are in the work world. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Becoming aware of retention strategies...

Hi Steven, You are right about the need for personal attention. Students really like to know they are included in the course. This means emotional inclusion. If they feel respected and supported they will stay engaged at a much higher level. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Hi Karen, Lesson plans are an effective way to guide you through the lessons you want to present. Being a veteran teacher you know what you want and need to accomplish with your students. So in effect you have lesson plans you just haven't put them on paper. Your college may require them and if so you can provide them by putting down what you intend to cover for that week. As to whether it will enhance your instructional style I don't know since you have already developed your style of the years. I would check with your school and… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Hi Erica, This is where the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" comes in. By seeing pictures of things that they have never seen before helps form a mental image from which they can then develop skills. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Becoming aware of retention strategies...

Hi Christopher, You have developed a clear grasp of how complicated teaching really is. You are using a life time of experience to problem solve the learning needs of your students. Each day is a challenge but the rewards of having student "aha" moments are worth the effort. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Becoming aware of retention strategies...

Hi Linda, I like your approach. You are showing the students how they can apply their newly acquired knowledge with the Q&A at the end of the session. They leave with a last review of what has been covered and what it means to them. This helps with retention of content. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Matching Content to Need

Hi Cathleen, Good idea. This is a form of pretesting you students as well as creating a baseline of what they know. This should really help as you make the final selection of content and delivery. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Becoming aware of retention strategies...

Hi Matthew, Good points about enthusiasm. It is key for all of us to keep the level of excitement about what we are doing and the benefits we get from doing it well. This is what are students need to see and hear over and over again. The old saying is "If it is meant to be, it is up to me." They have to invest the time and effort to be successful and the rewards will be theirs. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Understanding learner characteristics...

Hi Matthew, Each student is unique but they are part of a total learning group so your point about bringing the all along in the course is a good one. Everyone is not going to acquire all of the competencies but they do have to acquire the basic competencies if they are going to be successful in the work world. Good job with planning how this can be done. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Hi Stephanie, Good way to bring a variety of learning strategies into your course. By having the students some individual research you are showing relevancy outside of the classroom. Sometimes as you well know students cannot see any application of math concepts outside of the classroom. This way they are learning and applying what they have acquired as new knowledge. Gary

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