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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Instructor REFOCUS

Hi Connie, Well said. It is exciting when we get feedback that tells us we are doing a good job and impacting the learning of our students. Your point about making sure to share affirmation with our students is a good one as well because adult students can lose their way easily as a result of life pressures, work, etc. As you know it is easier for online students to become victim to failure because they are studying alone and at a distance. By keeping them engaged as you are you are helping them not to feel lost in the… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Developing Clear Goals and Objectives

Hi Jacqueline, Your comments make your courses come alive. I want to take some of your courses. You are showing your students application and relevancy in course areas that normally are thought of as being only required courses. Great work! Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Your Instructional Style

Hi Steven, Instructors need to stay current in their field if they are going to bring the latest greatest to their students. By being current it also helps instructors with their confidence because they know they are fulfilling their obligation to be reflective of the industry. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Your Instructional Style

Hi Jacqueline, There are many benefits of these types of assignments as you well know. The one that really comes to the forefront for me is "ownership". The students really own the material as a result of doing research on it and then sharing it with others. This really helps in building their confidence and motivation. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Understanding Learner Characteristics

Hi Dolores, You make a number of very good points concerning the need for different approaches in order to meet the different learning needs of students. With so many different backgrounds and life experiences variety in instructional delivery is critical if you are going to keep them engaged. Good job of doing so with your methods. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Adapting Your Instructional Strategy

Hi Carol, Good point and well made. I like your saying a lot. Your sense of humor comes out with the saying while driving home a very important point. "How much do I need to know to be successful?" is the question the students need help in answering because often they are unsure. Your saying helps them because you can point out where the content falls within the three categories. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Reasons for Enrolling

Hi Carol, You make a good point about learning why the students enrolled in the course. As you have listed there are many different reasons for why the students are taking the course and the more you know about these reasons the better you are going to be able to provide support when needed. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Valuing Student Opinions

Hi Charles, Be clear about your instructional style, expectations and desired outcomes helps the students to see how they can be successful in the course. This way they are ready to move forward in the course because they can see what they need to do to accomplish the course goals. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Instructor Enthusiasm

Hi Norman, Good point about bringing excitement to the class. It is for sure that if we come in dragging the class is going to drag. We need to bring our A game to the class each time even when we don't feel like it or have external pressures bearing down on us. By being excited we may find that at the conclusion of the class that we have had such a good time of teaching that the pressures that were there before class may not be as bad as we thought. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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Effective Retention Strategies

Hi Liz, You make a great point about letting the students know they are helping to shape the course as a result of the feedback they give you. This way they see they are being valued both as students as well as contributors to the course format. Gary

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