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

Strategies for Increasing Student Motivation

Chris, Students as you know really like hearing stories from the field. When their instructors relate such stories the value of the course content is increased and validated. This also gives them a picture of how the course content can be applied in real life and is relevant to their future career success. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Your Expectations Clear

Dennis, This beginning activity is so important. This way you are projecting to your students the value of the course as you see it as well as the value of the syllabus as an informative and guiding document containing critical information. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making a Positive First Impression

Richard, I really like hearing this from a professional like yourself. Many instructors don't place value on professionalism and as a result the students have a poor model to follow and image project to the field in which they are preparing to enter. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Developing Clear Goals and Objectives

Chris, Good point. You have to reduce student fears at the beginning of the course. If you don't then the students aren't going to hear what you are saying due to their fears. So get them settled into the class, do some ice breakers and then review the syllabus in such a way that their questions are answered and their fears reduced. This sets the stage for a good class to come. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Your Instructional Style

Tom, I would start with identifying what areas you want to improve in and how you want to do that. Then select some strategies that will help you to improve in that area. For example, maybe you want to expand your expertise as a good questioner. You could write down some questions that you want to ask in advance of the class. This can be put on note cards and you can lay them where you can easily see them. Then start a Q&A session using the questions on the cards as cues for you. It won't be long before… >>>

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Motivating Learners

Chris, Good way to start a course off by connecting the dots between the course content and their future. They need to see the value of the current course in relation to their career goals and employment potential. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Using Graphic Organizers

Amy, So true. Not sure how a person would teach your content without a lot of graphics to support the content. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Developing Student Rapport

Maryna, Rapport with students helps them to feel that they can ask any question of you, both related to the class and outside the domain of the class topic. This is a comfort level that involves the human aspect of teaching and it also demonstrates the respect they have for you as their learning leader. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Your Expectations Clear

Dr. Antonia, One way is to have the students do a one minute paper on a topic that you want to see if they have retained content about. Have them write for 60 seconds about what they have learned, what they know, or what surprised them most about what has been covered. The 60 second time limit keeps it short in terms of class time and short in terms of student writing so they don't feel overwhelmed by having to answer with a major essay. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Accommodating Learner Preferences

Kari, I wish you much teaching success. I have been teaching for many years and it is still fun and exciting to step into a class and know I am having an impact on the lives and futures of my students. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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