If there’s one thing that I’ve learned studying adult and continuing education theory, it’s that adults really hate being patronized and don’t have any tolerance for those presenting themselves as ‘experts’ who aren’t walking the talk.

My most recent class is designing manuals has been a huge challenge for me. Putting aside the fact that I’m an instructional designer who probably didn’t have the best motives when I registered for the class – I was hoping it would be a bird course, easily fill one of my electives, and be a quick and easy way to increase my GPA – I did expect to learn some new tips and tricks in the class. However, I’ve been sadly disappointed. The course pack presented (and designed *shudder*) by the Facilitator was a mess. Typos, formatting issues, referencing issues (90% of items that should have been referenced weren’t), layout, and inaccurate content top the top of the list of items wrong with it. Personally, I would have been mortified to consider a document in this state a first draft.

I think I could have managed to survive my disappointment if I hadn’t had to pass in a final project that included the design and development of a short 1-2 hour training program. I just can’t imagine how anyone who considers her materials to be acceptable could possibly be qualified to evaluate and judge anything I do. While my package may not be perfect, it’s certainly miles ahead of anything presented by the Facilitator of that class. I was so peeved at the concept of being assigned a grade by someone I’d lost any possible professional respect for that I just couldn’t motivate myself to work on my assignment for the first week. I did manage to get my butt in gear (my GPA can’t afford an incomplete in any class), but now that the deadline has arrived and I’ve submitted the project, I still can’t get over my sense of irritation at the situation.

Don’t get me wrong, the course wasn’t a total waste of time and money. It did re-infoce a key point for me. Sometimes all you have is your credibillity. Doing a half-assed job or presenting yourself as an expert but not passing a “baloney test” is a quick way to destroy your credibility and lose the respect of your peers.

Technorati Tags: education, instructional design, baloney detection, ethics

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