Theme 1: Instructional Design
Interview with an Instructional Designer
Course: EAC 580 - Designing Instructional Systems in Training & Development
This narrative discusses an interview with an instructional designer; the goal of the project was to acquaint myself with the practice and roles of someone in this position, and to explore the gap between theory and practice in instructional design. I had the privilege of interviewing Wallace Hannum, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and Associate Director for Technology of the National Research Center on Rural Education Support (NRCRES). (Dr. Hannum has since transitioned to part-time employment at UNC and ended his term at NRCRES in 2009.)
Prior to beginning the M.Ed. in T&D at NCSU, I was a student in Dr. Hannum’s Instructional Theories course at UNC. It was that course – the curriculum as well as the instruction – which led me to seek out a master's program focused on curriculum design and organizational performance. Thus, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to speak to my former instructor about how learning theories are relevant to instructional design. I asked Dr. Hannum about learning theory and various aspects of Instructional Systems Design (ISD) – needs analysis, development, design, implementation, and evaluation – in addition to the differences in performing these activities in education versus training environments.
It was very helpful to hear real life examples about the practice of ISD. For example, Dr. Hannum encourages his clients to be very explicit in advertising and promoting the training audience and what prerequisites are required to enroll. In my instructional design coursework, I learned about the need to consider the training audience, but more in terms of learner and contextual analysis. Dr. Hannum helped me understand the need for an instructional designer to use ISD as a guideline, but to also think more broadly about its application in practice. As a result, I incorporate this awareness into my design of workplace training programs.
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