Instructional Designers’ Field Guide
How to Use The Field Guide
The Instructional Designers’ Field Guide is designed to be a practical, non-linear resource that adapts to your workflow. Rather than a traditional textbook, it’s built as a modular toolkit - something you can dip into as challenges arise in your instructional design work. This page offers a preview of how the guide is intended to function, what design choices support that approach, and what tools and strategies will be included when the full version is released.
What You'll Learn From This Preview:
What Is The Field Guide?
The Instructional Designers’ Field Guide is a research-informed, multimedia-supported toolkit designed to help early-career instructional designers bridge the gap between theory and practice. Developed as part of a master’s capstone, it combines literature review, qualitative research, and applied design strategies into an evolving, accessible resource.
What Challenges Does It Address?
Early-career instructional designers often face unclear expectations, tool fatigue, and difficulty applying academic theory in practice. Based on both literature and survey feedback, this guide is structured around real-world design pain points — making it easier to navigate challenges as they come up.
From Research to Ready
How to Use What's Included
Each section provides practical information, tools, best practices and more. This includes checklist, planning worksheets, or sample scripts — to use right away. Tools are available online to print and fill out. Be sure to check back on the website often for updates!