How to Work as an Instructional Designer

Instructional designers write training materials for adult learners for a variety of business settings. Unlike other forms of business writing, an instructional designer adds opportunities for group participation and real-life problem solving into training curriculums. Instructional designers face creative design considerations since their job is to ensure that adults learn something new in ways that are meaningful.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Determine the training date and time. Make sure that you complete your materials at least three days prior the training date. This will help you make certain that you will have the materials copied and printed for the classroom, or uploaded to a web server for the training before the class begins.
2. Conduct a needs assessment. The needs assessment helps you determine the training content. Find out if the participants need to learn hard skills, soft skills, or information. Learn what type of knowledge the participants have now, and then determine where the gap in their learning lies. Your goal is to bridge the learning gap by using instructional design techniques and practices.
3. Write the learning goals and objectives. From the needs assessment, list the learning goals for the participants. Transform the learning goals into manageable steps or learning objectives. A learning objective identifies what a learner will be able to do, know and think at the end of the training. For example, if a learning goal is that participants learn how to tie a shoe, write a learning objective that begins with an action verb such as, "Demonstrate how to tie a shoe."
4. Write learning activities that include notations for all of the materials that a trainer will need for the students to learn, including props, practice scenarios, and scripts. Break the learning activities into linear steps. Provide the trainer with the learning activities, props, the steps, and the scripts.
5. Sequence the learning activities into incremental steps so that learners can practice each step of the over-arching learning goals. Practice and time each step before you publish or release your materials to a trainer. Perform each step to ensure that you haven't missed any details. Consider the four types of adult learners. For example, did you include a method whereby auditory learners can hear the instructions? Design curriculum that allows the kinesthetic learners to physically practice their new skill, and so forth.
6. Evaluate the training program. Attend the training session and take objective notes on the entire class. Determine if you met the learning goals, and if the learners' behaviors and knowledge have changed because of the training. Revise the training materials from the feedback you noted.

Who Can Help:

• Earn an Associate's, Bachelor's or Master's Degree from the University of Phoenix
• University of Phoenix, degree Programs to Fit Your Life.