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

The Learning Environment Effect

Sarah, Physical comfort supports active learning. I have taught in some very poor situations because nothing else was available including a cave in the mountains of South America. Once I was able to give my students some food and get them warm we were able to proceed with our learning. I was and continue to be amazed at these kids and how they wanted to learn to read so bad. Our students hopefully can appreciate the learning environments they have to learn, grow and achieve their career goals. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Effective Motivation Techniques

Vaughn, I am a big fan of using case studies based upon my career experiences for the reasons you state. They get the students engaged and thinking about the course content. In addition, students get to hear, after discussing the case studies, the end results. Knowing how the case worked out helps them with their problem solving development. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Developing Student Rapport

Vaughn, I agree about the value and importance of establishing rapport with students. The rewards for both students and instructor are great because rapport gives a foundation from which professional growth and interaction can be done as a part of the career development process. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Strategies for Keeping Students Engaged in Learning

Faith, There is a saying in education that is "To Teach is to Learn Twice, once as a student and once as a teacher." This applies here. Your students are both students and teachers in terms of have responsibilities as learning leaders. Great strategy to use to engage all students. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Accommodating Learner Preferences

James, I agree. The more you can "connect the dots" between course content and career application for students the higher degree of course retention and application will be there for your students. In addition their transition to employment will be easier because they see how they can make their education work for them. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Your Expectations Clear

Faith, Thank you for this excellent review of why a well prepared syllabus is so important and how the syllabus can be used to establish in the minds of students where the course is going and how they will know when they end up with the needed knowledge and competencies. This is what our teaching should be about. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making a Positive First Impression

James, A positive first impression establishes the foundation for respect to grow and rapport be developed. A negative one creates a hole that will take a long time if ever to dig out out. This wastes time that could be spent on teaching. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Developing Clear Goals and Objectives

James, Right you are. If your students do not understand what the goals and objectives are for the course they will not be engaged and certainly not be focused on successful outcomes. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

LaWandra, Good point about how to stay current in your field while refining your instructional expertise. This is what professional development should be about. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Gary, Thank you for sharing this example of how you can integrate humor and instruction together to create a learning opportunity. We have all had these types of experiences as we started our career areas. These stories show the students that they to will make mistakes and have to work to improve their skill sets. This is what learning and growing is about. The key is to benefit from these experiences as you demonstrate to your students so they to can become expert in their field. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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