Instructional Design Courses

Instructional design courses vary according to various factors. Most institutions prepare students for graduate level programs in instructional design and technology only. Typically, this would be Master of Science (MSc.), Master of Arts (MA), Master of Education (M.Ed), Educational specialist (Ed .S) Doctor of Education (Ed .D), or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). Very few programs have undergraduate or bachelors level programs. A few programs however do prepare students for a Graduate Certificate in Educational Technology Online.

Typically, coursework in Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) is founded on the ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation). However, coursework varies by the actual degree programs’ focus. For example, some programs may have more of a teacher education focus, while others may cater to corporate instructional design, human performance technology (HPT), or training. The list below is a sample of typical instructional design courses and classes that you can expect from various programs. Names or titles of the courses also vary by program. Additionally some of the coursework will be required or mandatory but students would have some electives to choose from. Again, this will vary from school to school and program to program, and whether the course are masters or doctoral level.

Typical Coursework

These courses listed below are generic names of courses but typically they form the core, foundational, or cognate area courses. Actual names of the courses vary by the degree program offerings.

• Trends and Issues/Survey of Instructional Design
• Foundations of Instructional Design and Technology
• Technology-Based Instruction
• Computer-based Instruction
• Needs assessment/Needs Analysis
• Media production and development
• Instructional simulations and gaming
• Instructional Theories and Models
• Design of Performance and Instructional Systems
• Instructional Design Consulting
• Human Performance Technology
• Training Intervention
• Managing Instructional Projects (Project Management)
• Analysis of Instructional Systems
• Authoring Technologies
• Evaluation of Instructional Systems
• Educational psychology
• Research Methods
  

The following vary depending on the individual program. Typically, students select a few courses and some of these may be repeatable.

• Special Topics in Instructional Design and Technology
• Readings in Instructional Design and Technology
• Research in Instructional Design and Technology
• Directed Studies in Instructional Design and Technology
• Scholarly Project or Research Project
• Independent Study
• Internship
• Educational psychology
• Research methods
• Thesis