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.

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Motivation Through Relevancy and Application

Hi Jacqueline, I like your observations and comments about the critical role that general education courses play in the educational process. I teach these courses so I know of which you speak. I work like you do to help the students to see the value that these courses offer to their futures. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Making Your Expectations Clear

Hi Barry, This is so important for the students to know and understand. How do you explain your learning outcomes to your students as you start the course? Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Offering Varied Instructional Delivery

Hi Martin, Right you are. This helps to target the learning preferences of students and that in turn increases the engagement factor for them. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Your Instructional Style

Hi Damian, Good strategies that will result in more effective student engagement. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Effective Retention Strategies

Hi Nicole, Yes, this is so important. The personal caring approach needs to be brought to the classroom so each student knows the instructor cares about their success. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Adapting Your Instructional Strategy

Hi David, These students are challenges that is for sure. I work hard on reinforcing the professional aspects of the course and the content I am sharing. I lay out the expectations clearly and then consistently enforce them. This doesn't always work but the majority of time I do reach them and get them engaged. I have dismissed some of these students from the class because I will not let them reduce the learning opportunities of the other students. When this happens the remaining students within this group get the message and the course goes well. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Adapting Your Instructional Strategy

Hi David, Repetition, application and relevancy are key points in the learning process. Your approach hits on those components and helps the students leave the course with all of this stored in their working memories. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Adapting Your Instructional Strategy

Hi Glenn, I like the way you approach showing value to the products your students are using in their cooking. I think this background is important for them to know as they bring their dishes to completion. Since I ranch in addition to my teaching I always appreciate it when a chef shows and tells the background on where produce, meat, etc. originated from. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Instructor Enthusiasm

Hi Scott, Good point about instructor enthusiasm. We, instructors didn't get this far in our careers not to like what we are doing. We need to make sure our students know that we are doing what we want to by sharing our knowledge with our students. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Valuing Student Opinions

Hi Scott, When teaching adults this is very important to keep them engaged and feeling they are valued. You make a good point on how to handle their opinions and reinforce them even when their opinions might not be exactly where they need to be in relation to the course content. Gary

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