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

Creating Personal Support Systems

Marcia, This is such a great way to get a "read" on the incoming class. Having them express their goals, doing a personal assessment and providing some insight into their experiences shows them that you want to learn more about them as individuals as well as helps you to customize your instruction to meet their learning needs. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Strategies for Keeping Students Engaged in Learning

Elizabeth, This is what I call "connecting the dots". The more connection you can create between the content being offered and the application of such content the greater student engagement is going to be. Also, you are increasing the value of the course to the students with this approach because they see how they are going to make applications of content when they are in the workplace. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Offering Varied Instructional Delivery

Rodney, This is a challenge for instructors in many different field that require foundational knowledge in order to be able to move to the hands on area of their career. The more examples you can give how this content will be used the more they will understand why they have to learn so much about the human body in order to be able to provide massage therapy in a way that is beneficial to clients. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Motivating Learners

Michele, Your last sentence puts it all in perspective. Yes excitement is contagious. By bring our passion for our field and our excitement about getting to teach about it to class each and every time it meets our students will see that we are modeling behavior they need to acquire. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Teaching to Multiple Intelligences

Brent, This is a great delivery format for the reasons you state. The more connections between the different senses and application of content the better. This keeps the students engaged and growth occurring. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Reinforcement as Motivation

Lindsay, I agree with you about the application aspect of teaching a course like writing. It is extremely valuable yet many students do not, as you have mentioned see it as having value. The more connections you can make between your content and real world applications the better. I teach a required gen ed course so I can relate to the challenges you face in trying to get your students to see why good writing is a career builder. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

The Human Factor in Retention

Lindsay, It is easy to get sucked in by students. I am a soft touch as well so I have to constantly tell myself that I have to step back and hold the student accountable not matter what the excuse is. One of the reasons I teach is that I enjoy working with the students and the interaction I get to have with them on the other hand I also can set myself up for getting sucked in because of the human factor. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Being Successful in College

Lindsay, Like your use of small success steps. The easiest thing to do is fail because failure takes away choices and the requirement that decisions be made. So when they start to slip they drop back to what they know and that is failure. With small success steps they start to move forward and before they know it they have had some major successes and they start to enjoy the results that come with being successful. This effort is not easy but very rewarding. You are doing a good job of helping them to make this progress. Gary Gary Meers,… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Implementing Relevant Course Content

Jessica, These are fun ways to keep students focused and to let them use the content that has just been covered. Students really like change of pace and variety in their instructional delivery and you are doing such with your approach. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Sharing Comprehensive and Clear Course Requirements

Rodney, The key to putting together the order of how things will unfold in a course is that the list be yours so you will be listing things, activities and requirements that follow how you want the class to flow and what components you want to list. So feel free to create your own in a way that works best for you. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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