Instructional Design Competencies Taught at Library Schools

Abstract

This study investigates the extent to which students in the master's-level school library/media specialist programs are provided with instructional design competencies. A questionnaire, which requested information on the requirement and availability of 1 3 instructional design competencies as well as attitudinal information, was mailed to all accredited library school programs in the United States. Major findings are that schools tend to adopt instructional design as a unitary innovation, requiring all or none of the competencies; although a wide range of instructional design competencies are available somewhere on most campuses, a substantial minority of programs require none; the schools that require only a few competencies emphasize the more traditional ones, and there is a generally positive attitude toward requiring instructional design competencies by those completing the questionnaire, particularly where such requirements are already in place.