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Instructional design career environments: Survey of the alignment of preparation and practice

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Conclusions

This survey explored practitioners’ perceptions and opinions about the match between their academic preparation program and the demands and challenges of their practice, as well as their opinions of exemplary programs for preparing graduates for professional practice in their career environment. Since the data collected were opinions and perceptions of participants and not observed behaviors, caution should be used in the interpretation and application of the results. In addition, the small and diverse sample compromises the generalizability of the findings. However, the survey provides a picture of the success of IDT programs in contextualizing the preparation of instructional designers and suggests several topics, like flexibility of program offerings and coverage of cultural workplace aspects, that represent areas for potential program improvement. The results of this study should serve to encourage IDT program administrators to survey their own graduates for valuable data on program strengths and weaknesses.

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  1. Miriam B. Larson
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Larson, M.B. Instructional design career environments: Survey of the alignment of preparation and practice. TECHTRENDS TECH TRENDS 49, 22–32 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02763727

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