What does an instructional designer do?

Friends Question:
"So I have a favor to ask of you. In one of my classes we are supposed to keep a running blog on instructional design. One of the major questions he wants us to answer is how we would describe to friends and family what an instructional designer does. Would you be willing to answer that question and I would anonymously post your response on my blog? "

My Response
Over the last hundred years we have seen a dramatic evolution in technology around us, yet in many ways we have not been able to practically apply our scientific knowledge of learning into instruction; therefore, instruction and our education process has remained pretty much the same. Instructional Design tries to bring instruction into the 21st century. By studying the science behind teaching and learning, Instructional Design tries to improve teaching and learning by identifying sound teaching strategies and incorporating technology when it can enhance learning.

The majority of Instructional Designers work either in academia or the corporate world. I worked at a university's center for teaching and learning. In this job I worked with faculty to help design courses or improve the teaching and learning in current courses. I would mostly do this by providing research-based evidence that a certain aspect of learning was more effective; I would give suggestions to the faculty one-on-one or in small groups, and then let them make their final decision regarding the implementation of the information I presented. Sometimes I would coordinate lectures or trainings for faculty to access the same information in a more traditional way.

Many faculty, because their name is followed by three special letters, figure they already know everything an instructional designer could tell them. At our university, the center for teaching and learning is able to interact with around 20% of our faculty members; in bigger Universities like Florida State and BYU, the centers for teaching and learning have around a 10% faculty interaction rate. This interaction involves faculty that meet with instructional designers individually as well as any that attend a lecture or training on topics regarding teaching and learning.

Because of the resistance many Ph.D.s have to someone critiquing them and giving them advice, instructional design work in education, ironically enough, is sometimes less progressive than in a corporate setting.