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

Instructor Enthusiasm

Hi Barbara, You comment about student comments concerning less than enthusiastic instructors is common sad to say. I agree with the students if an instructor isn't excited about teaching his/her content area then don't. Get out of teaching and open a space for someone that is really excited and wants to share knowledge and experiences with others. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Creating Personal Support Systems

Hi Barbara, I love hearing these stories. This is what creative education is all about. You looked at the most effective way of helping your students and then developed a model that would enable your students to be successful. I know this information will be helpful to other instructors as they seek to expand their instructional delivery models. Thanks for sharing it with us. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Your Expectations Clear

Hi Kate, Yes, it is. A procedure that has to be completed the same way each time it is done lends itself very well to rote memory and practice. Once mastered it then becomes an integral part of the internal processing of each student's working memory. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Blog

Learn About the Student Services Your College Offers

As an instructor it is a good idea to know what services are available to your students. By knowing what these services are and how they support students you will be able to more accurately focus on referring students when a need arises.

Start with the admissions department. How does admissions personnel work with potential students? What do they tell them about the programs, curriculum, instructors and support services? By knowing this information you will know what the students know in relation to their entering the course either onsite or online. This way you can target your conversations with the… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Being Successful in College

Hi Ofe, Great approach. Those small bites of the elephant are so important for the students to see. This way if they have doubts they can work on them as they move through the course and start to have success. Before they know it they course will be completed, they have been successful and the elephant is gone. Everyone wins at the end. Thanks for sharing your insight with us. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making a Positive First Impression

Hi Ken, So true about first impressions. It is so much easier to build on a good one rather than try to correct a poor one. So the more preparation we instructors can make prior to the first class to generate that positive first impression the easier our job is going to be for the rest of the course. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Effective Retention Strategies

Hi Ofe, This is a supportive and encouraging introduction to your course. This helps set the students at ease while sharing with them the expectations of the course. I know this helps them to feel they can be successful in the course while knowing they have a supportive instructor they can call upon for help as needed. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Hi Dr. Fuqua, If your approach is working well for your students and yourself then I would continue to use that instructional style. For variety you might want to try a new approach in one area of your course to see how it works. If it is successful then you can expand on using it and if it isn't you have learned not to use that method again. I use this approach each time I teach my classes. This way I continually improve my instructional delivery while getting to be creative in my approach. This keeps me from getting bored… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Hi Jennifer, What a great professional development plan you have created for yourself. You are right on with your different components because you are observing, learning and applying what you see as being best practices in instruction. These efforts are going to enable you to be effective and efficient in your teaching while creating good rapport with your students. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Adapting Your Instructional Strategy

Hi Eric, Well said. The key as you mention is the integration of technology, activities and relevant content to the total teaching process. By continually improving on how this is done instructors will be able to be more effective in their instructional delivery and student outcomes. Gary

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