Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Hi Dale, The challenge of teaching adults is that they often times have the attention span of children while bringing to the class the experiences of adults. This makes for a real challenging mix when creating your teaching plan. From what you have written it appears that you strive to meet the diverse learning needs of your students. The mixing up of delivery methods is essential to keep students focused. If you don't mix up the delivery, the students in many cases will have checked out of the class mentally and moved on to something that is more interesting to… >>>

Hi Dale, You are correct. Your students are enrolled in your course to be trained in the latest most competitive skill/knowledge areas to enable them to be successful upon completion. For them not to have an instructor with field based knowledge nor equipment that is not up to standard would not be ethical nor fair. In our industry we know we must reflect the fields we represent. We must remain current in terms of both content as well as delivery. The problem sometimes is how to best “package” the content in a delivery way that is interesting and appropriate for… >>>

Dale, Great idea. From what you have written, it appears that you have a clear idea of what makes up a good instructor and you look for those characteristics in instructors that you observe. We are all models and we have to remember that we never know for sure who might be observing us as a role model. Thus, we need always to reflect professionalism in everything we do. Veteran instructors are great for having developing little teaching techniques that we can observe and will help us do a better job. Experience helps everyone to work smarter and more effectively… >>>

Joe, I know you have already completed the course and received your certificate, but I thought it would be good to discuss some of the components of what it takes from professional development, in case you had some additional input or questions. What do you use as a measurement of how the strategies are changing within your field? What are your steps to keeping up to date with your field? These questions I believe are the foundation of what you are doing in the classroom and laboratory setting. I would be most interested in how you approach both of them.… >>>

Joseph, Yes, the learning environment is critical to instructional success. I know many instructors that have not stepped back and looked at their classroom or laboratory for many years. They have let the paint peel, materials pile up, and bulletin boards deteriorate over a period of time and they never notice. Granted the physical setting of the classroom/laboratory in not all of teaching but it is a major part. The students need to feel comfortable as you say. In addition, the instructor must set the level of comfort within the class. Rapport with students does much to make learning progress.… >>>

Hi Joseph, Good ideas on how to stay current. In your reading of trade journals and attending seminars do you get exposure to instructional improvement? I have found that most of information being put out by professional trade associations, etc. are content based. The real challenge is how to translate the new content into a teachable format that will inform and interest the students. It seems like an instructor just gets the problems and case studies developed for a course sequence when new content comes along and requires that a new format be developed. This is one of the exciting… >>>

Hi Zafar, Thank you for input on how to develop and refine your instructional style. Your suggestion about taking continuing education courses to improve is a good one. Sometimes it is hard to find courses that meet this need. What suggestions would you make to your faculty to assist them in finding courses that will benefit their professional development? Your second point about analyzing student results will be of benefit to students. Each time we teach a course we need to evaluate how effective we have been and then seek improvement. A suggestion for all instructors is to have a… >>>

Hi Ken, Isn't it amazing how “live” work can challenge and motivate a student? These adult students with all of their experiences still need to be reinforced that what they are doing is of quality. When a local purchaser indicates that the level of work that has been completed by the students is of industrial standard, the students know they are making progress. The real challenge is to keep the student engaged in the learning process long enough to develop a foundational base of skill and expertise to enable them to produce goods and services for local shops. Make sure… >>>