A profile of instructional designers in Australia

This paper reports on the findings of a questionnaire which elicited information from ninety‐nine instructional designers in Australia about their qualifications, the activities they undertake, and perceptions of their role. Over half of those surveyed have what they consider to be qualifications in instructional design. The range of activities undertaken is large. There are slight variations in the activities performed by instructional designers at universities compared with instructional designers at Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes. There was very little difference in the frequency of activities performed by those with instructional design qualifications and those without. The research shows that many people are confused about the role of instructional designers. There are many negative perceptions of the role held by people with whom instructional designers work and these perceptions can adversely affect the instructional designers' work.