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

Motivation techniques...

Hi Stephen, You make a very good point about instructors never having a bad day. We all know we have them but we can't let those days influence how we are in the classroom/lab. We have to leave everything at the door and be the best we can be inside that setting every time we enter it. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Becoming aware of retention strategies...

Hi Clyde, Listening to students is a good thing. You can sort out all kinds of situations that way. You make a good point about communication. Instructors have to be effective at it so their students will continue to progress. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

REFOCUS...

Hi Stephen, Well said. We all need to get excited about our work once again when we find that we are not giving it our all. By taking a bit of time and refocusing ourselves back into why we do what we do and look for ways of doing it better we will be much more effective. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

The Learning Environment Effect

Hi David, If you always keep the thought as outlined in the last line of your forum response you are going to do well as an instructor. Make the student feel welcomed and comfortable in the learning setting, establish good rapport with them and they will work hard to succeed in your course. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Adapting Your Instructional Strategy

Hi Lance, Semantic memory is more rote, meaning the learning of facts, figures, ratios, etc. Episodic memory is the pulling up of previous experiences and associating them with what is being currently learned. This helps with application. If you as the instructor are offering content that has to be memorized for success in the course then the students will be working in their semantic memory. Instructors need to tie as much content and semantic memory work to the previous experiences of students as is possible since retention will be much higher if they do. In summary, you got it and… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Matching Content to Need

Hi Roberto, Good examples of how you can keep students engaged in the learning process, while giving them opportunities to relax a bit, have some fun but still use their newly acquired knowledge. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

The Learning Environment Effect

Hi Patricia, Right you are about the learning environment. It is amazing to me how many schools try to teach a subject without the lab or setting to illustrate to the students just what they are going to face in the future or what they are going to be learning on. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Understanding learner characteristics...

Hi Thomas, You make a good point. As communicators we need to make sure our message is being heard and processed. Through feedback from the students we can learn how effective we are really being. This type of feedback should be solicited throughout the course and not just as a summative course evaluation. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Understanding learner characteristics...

Hi Ricardo, Thank you for this excellent example of how to work with diverse learning groups. You example shows how each person and group can benefit from each other while respecting what each one brings to the learning environment. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Hi David, Experience is a great teacher isn't it. We can be crushed by it or grow from it. It is really our choice if we are going to develop into an instructor of the highest quality. Gary

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