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

Understanding Learner Characteristics

KENNETH, This is a common theme for many students. Being a tactile learning helps with the integration of cognitive processing so the more instructors can provide multiple ways to take in content the better. You have a good start with your approach. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Feeling Accepted Helps with Success

DANIEL, This is a valuable support service to and for students. Knowing they are a part of a learning community goes a long way in helping them to get settled into a course and feeling a part of what is going on. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Reasons for Enrolling

Ed, Thank you for sharing this success story even though it is a little different than what we normally expect. This student was able to use her knowledge and skills to be successful in her current career to tide her over until she was ready to enter her selected career area. As you say a win win for everyone. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Your Expectations Clear

KENNETH, Does your school have a standardized syllabus or do you get to develop your own for each course? Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Using Reflective Thinking

Alex, Thank you for this example. This is such a good strategy for individuals to follow as they refine their reflective thinking skills and become more efficient as problem solvers. We need to focus on the steps that need our attention and then move on as those steps become easier to work through. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Defining Intelligence

Ronnie, Yes, they do. When they are challenged to think critically and then find that they can actually solve problems their confidence grows and expands their potential as being quality workers. They need to see this growth as a part of their educational and career development. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Critical Thinker Characteristics

Ronnie, This is an important skill set to have. The more they know about why something works the better prepared they will be to select options in relation to solving a problem. Depth of knowledge with help with application of knowledge. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Critical Thinker Characteristics

Daniel, So true. I struggle constantly with my students in terms of doing valid research to secure information about a situation. They don't want to invest the time and effort it takes to secure and analyze the information they get to make a decision in terms of possible solutions to presenting problem. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Instruction Relevant

Curtis, The project connection is so important for students to understand the scaffolding of the content being taught. The more you can do this the more valuable the course content becomes. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Making Instruction Relevant

Kris, This is such a great teaching tool. I use case studies to help my students to use the material we have covered in the course. The results are that the students get to see both application and relevance in what they are learning. Gary Gary Meers, Ed.D.

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