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

Making Instruction Relevant

Hi Carlos, Good strategies. This way the students will start to see the connection between course content and their future. They need to make that connection early and revisit it often because that is why they are in school in the first place. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Developing Student Rapport

Hi Scot, This is a great point that all instructors need to remember. Developing respect and rapport are two key ingredients of learning and teaching success. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Strategies for Keeping Students Engaged in Learning

Hi Michael, Good point about voice levels and variety of delivery. Key ingredients for keeping the students engaged. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Strategies for Keeping Students Engaged in Learning

Hi Jennifer, Good point. Students like instructional variety but they need to see order and sequence to the variety. Your suggested 1-3 strategies is a good guide. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Making a Positive First Impression

Hi Nick, Thanks again for your input on working with students in relation to being a new younger instructor. This is good advice for all new instructors to heed. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Using a Well-prepared Syllabus

Hi Shiva, Thank you for this suggestion. As you say there are a number of resources available so instructors don't have to start from zero in developing their syllabi. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Using a Well-prepared Syllabus

Hi Nick, Thank you for sharing your experience with using the weekly post format. Students have so many life pressures that they tend to be short sighted as you know. This is good information for instructors to have so they will keep short term reminders in front of the students as a result of your sharing your experience. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Defining Instructional Professionalism

Hi All, Great definitions of professionalism. You all have developed a keen understanding of what being a professional is all about, thus your success in your field. The key is to communicate to your students how important their professional development is to their future success. This is something they really have to have an understanding of if they are going to be successful. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Making Your Expectations Clear

Hi Wendy, It works well for me. Everyone has a laugh but they get the message in a humorous way. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Instructors as Role Models

Hi Deborah, Good point. This is why I use a lot of problem solving and case study learning sequences. I want them to see relevancy and application to what they are learning. Just memorizing for a brief period of time is not efficient nor effective learning as we know. Gary

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