What is an ID?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v23i3.1546Keywords:
Instructional design, competencies, career development, online learningAbstract
Instructional design positions in higher education require greater depth and breadth of knowledge, far beyond the bulleted qualifications found in typical job descriptions. The eDesign Collaborative Research Team wished to explore the discrepancies that exist between commonly identified competencies and those deemed necessary by instructional designers (IDs) actively working in postsecondary education. This study identifies the work performed by instructional designers and compares that work to the competencies and tasks identified in literature focused on instructional design and designers. Likewise, the study sought to explore the career plans and goals of IDs and their access to professional development.
A majority (56%) described the ID role as a mix of both faculty and content development. When asked about what they would rather be doing with their time, an even mix between working with faculty more and working on content development more was observed. Many individuals also mentioned an interest in working more with technology and innovative projects. Collaboration with subject matter experts (SMEs), content experts, faculty, and instructors was by far the most important competency, both in importance and time spent. Research and marketing seemed to be least important and garnered the least amount of employee time.
References
Ashbaugh, M. L. (2013). Expert instructional designer voices: Leadership competencies critical to global practice and quality online learning designs. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 14(2), 97-118. Accessed February 15, 2017.
Brigance, S. (2011). Leadership in online learning in higher education: Why instructional designers for online learning should lead the way. Performance Improvement 50(11) 43-48. DOI: 10.1002/pfi.20262
Creswell, J. W., & Plano, C. V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.
Ertmer, P. A., & Stepich, D. A. (2005). Instructional design expertise: How will we know it when we see it? Educational Technology, 45(6), 38–43.
Ertmer, P. A., Stepich, D. A., York, C. S., Stickman, A., Wu, X. L., Zurek, S., et al. (2008). How instructional design experts use knowledge and experience to solve ill-structured problems. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 21(1), 17–42.
Ertmer, P. A., Stepich, D. A., Flanagan, S., Kocaman-Karoglu, A., Reiner, C., Reyes, L., et al. (2009). Impact of guidance on the problem- solving efforts of instructional design novices. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 21(4), 117–132.
Gray, C. M., Dagli, C., Demiral‐Uzan, M., Ergulec, F., Tan, V., Altuwaijri, A. A., ... & Boling, E. (2015). Judgment and instructional design: How ID practitioners work in practice. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 28(3), 25-49.
Instructional Design Competencies. (2012). International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction.
Kelly, W. (2016). Competencies for instructional designers: A view from employers (Order No. 10190299). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1873489041)
Kenny, R.F., Zhang, Z., Schwier, R.A., & Campbell, K. (2005). A review of what instructional designers do: Questions answered and questions not asked. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 31(1). Retrieved from: http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/147/140.
Branch, R. & Merrill, M. (2012). Characteristics of Instructional Design Models. In Reiser, R.A & Dempsey, J.V. (Eds.), Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (pp. 8-16). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Ritzhaupt, A. & Martin, F. (2014). Development and validation of the educational technologist multimedia competency survey. Educational Technology Research & Development, 62(1), 13-33. Available from: OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson), Ipswich, MA.
Sims, R. C., & Koszalka, T. (2008). Competencies for the new-age instructional designer. In J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. Merrienboer, & M. P. Driscoll (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (3rd ed., pp. 569–575). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Solomonson, W. L., C.P.T. (2008). Toward fluent instructional design in the context of people. Performance Improvement, 47(7), 12-19.
Sugar, W., Hoard, B., Brown, A., & Daniels, L. (2012). Identifying multimedia production competencies and skills of instructional design and technology professionals: An analysis of recent job postings. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 40(3), 227–249.
Sugar, W. & Luterbach, K. (2015). Using critical incidents of instructional design and multimedia production activities to investigate instructional designers’ current practices and roles. Education Technology Research Development, 64, 285–312. DOI 10.1007/s11423-015-9414-5
Thompson-Sellers, I. & Calandra, B. (2012). Ask the instructional designers: A cursory glance at practice in the workplace. Performance Improvement, 51(7). DOI: 10.1002/pfi
Tracey, M.W., & Boling, E. (2014). Preparing instructional designers: traditional and emerging perspectives. In: J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. Elen, & M. J. Bishop (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (4th ed., pp. 653–660).
Villachica, S., Marker, A., & Taylor, K. (2010). But what do they really expect? Employer perceptions of the skills of entry-level instructional designers. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 22(4), 33–51.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
As a condition of publication, the author agrees to apply the Creative Commons – Attribution International 4.0 (CC-BY) License to OLJ articles. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
This licence allows anyone to reproduce OLJ articles at no cost and without further permission as long as they attribute the author and the journal. This permission includes printing, sharing and other forms of distribution.
Author(s) hold copyright in their work, and retain publishing rights without restrictions