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.

Activity

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Re: Effective Retention Strategies

Shauna, Good point about paying attention to student frustrations. They exist so we need to acknowledge them and then move on so the frustrations don't take over the class and stop learning progress. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Strategies for Keeping Students Engaged in Learning

Cheryl, I use this approach for my students as well. They really like group work and they get competitive very quickly and this in turn gets them to learn the material very quickly so they can win the game. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Anna-Maria, Right you are. This is what professional development is all about. We need to keep striving to expand our expertise as educators. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Defining Instructional Professionalism

Naila, Can you expand on this sentence. I need a little more explanation so I can understand it better. Thanks. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Understanding Learner Characteristics

Jason, Good point about the value focusing on student retention. Faculty as you know are the connection between retention and student success because they spend so much time with them. So the more they know about how to keep students engaged the greater the engagement is going to be. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Reasons for Enrolling

James, This is what customized targeted student centered instruction is all about. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Offering Varied Instructional Delivery

Sandra, Sounds like a fun class. You are a great job of engaging students in a class that is technical in relation to content and knowledge acquisition. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making a Positive First Impression

Mirela, This is my style as well. I have found that I have a much higher level of rapport with my students when I am around the chant a bit and have a "soft" approach to opening a class session. This effort gets my students settled in and ready to go and we don't lose any class progress. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making a Positive First Impression

Margeaux, This is a great point to make for instructors. Positive first impressions need to be maintained or all effort will be lost. This is where ongoing modeling remains a must. The students need to see the instructor in a positive light throughout the semester. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making a Positive First Impression

Lima, It is so much easier to move forward with a positive first impression rather than spending time digging out of a hole that was created by being negative. Gary Dr. Gary Meers

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