Instructional Designers: A Study in Diversity
Cammy Bean has been doing some interesting surveys on her blog, Learning Visions. Most recently, she posted a survey asking instructional designers to tell about their educational background. The results: Liberal Arts across the board.
What struck me is how many different majors showed up. Definitely a diverse lot.
November 15th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Hey Jon,
I was surprised by the fact that so few instructional designers have degrees in instructional design. The total is now up to 4 of 23.
What’s been your experience with instructional designers? Do you hire people based on experience or degrees?
Cammy
November 16th, 2007 at 11:48 am
Our experience is very consistent with what your survey is finding. For instructional design, we hire based almost entirely on experience (our consultants average more than 10 years’ experience).
The thing I like about those with liberal arts degrees, is that they tend to be adaptable and comfortable with ambiguity. Aside from the core ID skills, this trait seems to be one of the greatest determinants of success on our projects.
November 19th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
That’s essentially what I’ve seen in the marketplace with job postings. Although I must say, I do see a lot of listings for ID jobs that want that coveted Master’s Degree. I wonder how many of those companies actually get that.
Perhaps the question to ask is, what number of years of experience = a Master’s?