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

Valuing Student Opinions

Richard, You make a very good point. Instructors need to learn how to listen to students. By listening instructors can see how they can more accurately target their instruction to meet the current group of enrollees. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Instructor Enthusiasm

Richard, Good point because enthusiasm for teaching and passion for one's field goes a long way in helping gain the respect and confidence of students. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Feeling Accepted Helps with Success

Richard, This is why it is so important to establish a feeling of support and respect in the classroom. Students need to know the learning leader is their advocate if they are willing to put forth the effort. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Motivation Through Relevancy and Application

Jorge, Relevancy and application needs to be a part of our instructional planning. By seeing both students will be able to see value in the content we share with them. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Instructor REFOCUS

Jorge, Good point and something we need to remember as we plan our instructional delivery and activities. Students need to have a change of pace and variety in their classes. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Accommodating Learner Preferences

DAVID E, I think the model you are using is a good one. I would look at incorporating activities such as case studies into the course if 90% of your students say they want to go into business for themselves. This is common but often the students do not have a realistic idea of what it takes to start and run a business. I have started a number of businesses and I can tell you as you already know it is a lot of hard work and takes a lot of time. Through case studies students can develop a feel… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Your Expectations Clear

Michael, This is such a great quote because it is so common with us teachers. We think that we are more clear in our communicating our expectations than we really are in many cases. So we need to reinforce and repeat our expectations so I our students can clearly understand things like assignments and due dates. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Defining Intelligence

Beatriz, I like the way you approach your definition of intelligence because it has so many variables just as you have outlined. We need to look at how individuals process information and come up with possible solutions. This will help us to see the value of their contributions as well as give us ideas of how they can refine their problem solving skills even more. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Critical Thinker Characteristics

Marcia, This is a very well developed definition of how critical thinking unfolds. Helping our students to understand and have command of these steps will help them to develop into not only critical thinkers but also problem solvers. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Instruction Relevant

IDA, The greater connection between the classroom/lab and the workplace the better. This increases the value of the content that is being offered and increases their motivation because they see why certain content is being taught. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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