Examining competencies for the instructional design professional: An exploratory job announcement analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine core professional competencies for instructional designers through a job announcement analysis involving both qualitative and quantitative produces used on a qualitative data source. Using a

The Increasing Quest for Instructional Designers and Technologists in Higher Education and Corporate Settings

“…However, there are resources that help to mitigate the challenges in the preparation provided by academic IDT programs, professional development opportunities offered by professional associations (Ritzhaupt et al, 2020), and researchers have consistently explored the changing roles and responsibilities and evaluated the skills and competencies that are essential for practitioners. The need to continually examine the competencies of IDT professionals is predicated on the expectations of prospective employers (Wang et al, 2021).…”

“…Extant research studies conducted to identify IDT roles and competencies have applied different methodologies. A content analysis methodology analyzed the job announcements from various job posting sources (Kang & Ritzhaupt, 2015;Moallem, 1995;Raynis, 2018;Ritzhaupt et al, 2010;Sugar et al 2012;Wang et al, 2021). Other methodologies used include in-depth interviews, the Delphi method, survey-based research, and mixed method (Irby & Strong, 2015;Kang & Ritzhaupt, 2015;Klein & Kelly, 2018;Ritzhaupt et al, 2010Ritzhaupt et al, , 2018Ritzhaupt & Kumar, 2015;Rozitis, 2017;Sugar et al, 2007;Williams van Rooij, 2013).…”

“…In comparing the different research approaches used to examine the roles and competencies of IDTs, content analysis is frequently used in job announcement analysis and seems to be the best approach to identifying the most sought professional competencies in wide-ranging fields (Wang et al, 2021). Wang et al further assert that the inherent benefit of this approach is the level of data characteristics it presents, as the qualitative nature of a job announcement necessitates that prospective employers use a constrained space to present the skills they are seeking in candidates.…”

“…From the findings they reported that half of the employers in industry preferred four competencies of IDTs: using e-learning authoring software, effective collaboration, needs analysis, and the foundation of learning theories and principles. Wang et al (2021) conducted a study that utilized qualitative and quantitative methodologies to examine job announcements and identify core professional competencies for instructional designers. The researchers collected 1870 job announcements removed 840 incomplete or duplicate entries and used the remaining 1030 job announcements for the study.…”

Learning and development roles and competency domains in higher education: a content analysis of job announcements

“…A lot of educational programs and research focus solely on the instructional design role. Wang et al (2020) examined 185 professional competencies for instructional designers by reviewing 1030 unique job announcements and analyzed by the different instructional setting. Ritzhaupt and Kumar (2015) examined competencies for instructional designers in higher education by interviewing eight instructional designers.…”