Imposter Syndrome and Instructional Design

Imposter Syndrome and Instructional Design:

Overcoming Self-Doubt

Lewis Carr reckons you’re better than you give yourself credit for.

We’ve all been there, doubting our skills and our talents and wondering if what we produce is good enough. Like Neo in The Matrix, you doubt your credentials and your ability, perhaps you’re not “the one” to develop courses.

Imposter Syndrome can be particularly challenging for instructional designers who are tasked with continually creating effective e-learning experiences. There is a lot of weight on your shoulders and does anyone know how hard it is to make mandatory data protection training the remotest bit exciting?

A lot of what we produce is based on the content and our “gut feeling” of what will make the course interactive, engaging and effective. Unlike The Matrix, there isn’t a pill to take but there is a framework we can follow, called UDL (Universal Design for Learning).

Whether you’re a seasoned instructional designer or just “that person who occasionally builds courses at work”, you are probably already implementing Universal Design for Learning without even realising it - score one for you, yeah?

Like Neo being awoken to the real world behind the veil of the Matrix simulation, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) exists underneath the glossy front end of e-learning. UDL anticipates and accommodates the varied needs of our learners, and it is based on 3 core principles that address the “what,” “how,” and “why” of learning:

1. Representation (the “what”)

UDL encourages the presentation of content in various ways to address the diverse ways learners comprehend information. So the next time you are “spicing” up your course by adding a blend of text, audio, video and interactive elements, you are actually providing a balance of materials that appeal to learners with different sensory preferences and cognitive abilities. Who knew eh? You did, of course.

2. Action and Expression (the “how”)

This is all about recognising the ways in which your learners navigate your course and express what they know. So, when you are adding quizzes, assignments and projects to your course, you are providing flexible opportunities for your learners to demonstrate and express their knowledge. And you thought you’d stuck a quiz in at the end just for the sake of it.

3. Engagement (the “why”)

Engagement is the key to effective learning, and what motivates one learner might not interest another. UDL suggests providing options that tap into different interests, offering choice and autonomy, so allowing users to select their preferred pathways and giving them control over their learning is the glue that binds all this together.

Like Neo in The Matrix, the why was all about the exploration of reality and Neo was given the choice to control his own outcome and adapt the environment around him.

By providing feedback into the learning process to monitor your learner progress and then adapting the instruction, you are meeting the evolving needs of your students. This is perhaps the trickiest part to do and requires the most effort, but does ensure your course is a living, breathing and evolving experience.

So, if you are doing any, or indeed all, of the above, then you have been using EDL all along and possibly just never realised how awesome you are at course design; congratulations on taking the red pill!

And if you’re not doing any of this and still creating “click-next” PowerPoints, then it’s time to swap that blue pill for the red one and realise you were the chosen one all along.