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

Reinforcement as Motivation

Kenny, Good point about how you support your students even when they make a mistake. A part of the learning process is making a mistake and then having the instructor help you correct the mistake, learn from it, and then move on. This is the only time the students will have the "safety net" of an expert (the instructor) available to help them with their growth. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Motivation Through Relevancy and Application

Susan, These two words are essential to student engagement. If students can see relevancy and application to what they are being taught they will realize the ROI on their effort. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Effective Motivation Techniques

Megan, Good strategy to use in getting students involved in giving feedback. Through this feedback you can get a very clear picture of how effective your instruction is. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Effective Motivation Techniques

Anthony, I use guest speakers as well because they really help students to see the relevancy of what is being taught. Speakers reinforce what we are saying and teaching and greatly increase the motivation level of students. Thanks for sharing this important learning tool with us. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Valuing Student Opinions

Leigh, This is a great way to integrate the different life experiences that are being brought by students so using them throughout the course helps to get their buy in terms of the content. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Instructor REFOCUS

Angela, I think you are going to have a lot of fun with this strategy. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Instructor REFOCUS

Crystal, I agree with you about the need to be fresh and excited as we teach a course again. We can do this with new assignments, activities and deliveries. The element of the unknown is something that I like when I use a new activity for example. I don't know exactly how it will work so I am really focused on using my best skill sets to make it successful. When the activity does work then I get even more excited. This is what makes teaching fun. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Developing Student Rapport

Gwendolyn, I think this is as essential as the content information you are sharing. They need to see you as a model of the field and a human being with character. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Instructor Enthusiasm

Cheryl, Your career experiences and stories help the content to come alive. As you know students really like it when instructors share their experiences because it makes the content come alive and shows relevancy. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Instructor Enthusiasm

Angela, Right you are about mood and behavior. If we bring excitement to the classroom our students will catch some of it. If we come bored or without passion for our content they will catch that as well. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

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