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

Teaching to Multiple Intelligences

Hi David, I like your supportive approach to learning success for your students. They know you care about them and their success in the class. This sets the stage for learning if the students are willing to put forth the effort. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Students as Class Members

Hi Betty, I agree. The more interaction students have with each other the higher the level of sharing. Also, they will learn how to work together which is going to be a requirement when they are out in the work world. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Increasing Student Retention

Hi Chadd, I agree with you about the critical role that instructors play in student retention. By establishing rapport with students respect will be a two way street and that greatly enhances learning. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Instructor REFOCUS

Hi Thomas, I agree with you about the number of instructors I work with that fit the profile you laid out. I don't know how they stand doing the same thing every class session with no thought about being creative nor meeting students needs. Your strategies show how a dedicated instructor can meet student needs, provide support and enjoy teaching with a high level of excitement. Keep up the great work. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Expanding Your Instructional Abilities

Hi Bonnie, Great to hear about your professional development. Observing other instructors is a great way to see how others approach the classroom while picking up pointers that you can use in your class. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Blog

Inviting Guest Speakers

A great resource to use are guest speakers. As you were going through your childhood years when your teacher said there was a guest speaker coming remember how excited everyone was in the class. Someone from outside of the classroom was coming to talk about something interesting and maybe they might have some pictures or objects to share during their presentation. Well nothing has changed since your own school days. Students still like hearing from individuals that are from their field.

In all of the planning for course content and delivery it is easy to overlook the use of and… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Comprehensive Planning for Instructional Success

Hi Robert, Good comments about this area. It is so obvious that planning is required and yet many instructors feel that they don't have to plan nor be organized in their efforts. Then they can't understand why their classes don't go well and their students are unhappy. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Instruction Relevant

Hi Roy, You make a good point about the challenges many adult learners have as they come into the classroom for the first time after being out of school for a length of time. This is why I make my pretest like a game which reduces pressure on the students while getting me the information I need. I give them definitions, words and letters and have them explain what they know about them. I make it light and humorous so everyone is relaxed during the discussion after the pretest that way the students can leave the class feeling that they… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Instruction Relevant

Hi Loren, Good point. This sets up the next step which is application. By seeing both the relevancy and application of knowledge and skills the students are making progress toward their career goals. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Teaching to Multiple Intelligences

Hi Cemal, Right you are about having this knowledge on the different ways students acquire knowledge and process content. This helps us with our instruction planning and delivery in many ways. Gary

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