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What does a course instructor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read
Quoted expert
Helen Callus

A course instructor typically works at a school or other instructional institution. Besides teaching, they are primarily responsible for developing syllabi, creating learning materials, creating lesson plans, creating coursework, administering examinations, grading, and monitoring the students' progress. Additionally, a course instructor may organize seminars for their students and invite guest speakers to provide additional insights.

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Course instructor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real course instructor resumes:

  • Manage and upload SCORM content to the LMS for delivery.
  • Achieve certification in high ropes course training, CPR and first aid.
  • Assist classmates with developing positive study habits and strategies for managing classroom material.
  • Create course syllabus, determine course requirements, facilitate class discussion.
  • Develop and revise the course syllabus, introducing improve instruction criteria and evaluation standards leading to elevate quality of graduate students.
  • Apply first aid, CPR, and a when need.
  • Initiate assays, moisture determination, wet chemistry and titration's.
  • Collaborate with international team to deliver high quality advance networks technical training in classroom, eLearning, and cd-base formats.
  • Establish a video and eLearning development center.
  • Provide additional resources including additional coursework for undergraduate organic chemistry.
  • Help students understand concepts and questions relate to mathematics and statistics.
  • Design and implement instruction for students in multiple areas of mathematics.
  • Develop and update curricula, and present training sessions on various mid- to high-level leadership and operational subjects.
  • Develop and implement recreational activities for groups seeking leadership and teamwork experience at campus wildlife sanctuary and recreation facility.
  • Develop and instruct specialized courses and laboratory sessions for funeral directors in human anatomy and biology and conduct private tutoring sessions.

Course instructor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10% of Course Instructors are proficient in Course Curriculum, Syllabus, and Course Materials. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Creativity, and Instructional skills.

We break down the percentage of Course Instructors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Course Curriculum, 10%

    Helped teachers utilize technology and implement it into their course curriculum.

  • Syllabus, 8%

    Developed syllabus, educational materials and evaluation tool for short continuing education course delivered to 1500 community leaders and government officials.

  • Course Materials, 8%

    Developed and utilized course material to reintegrate water treatment personnel with new purification methods and equipment.

  • Blended Learning, 6%

    Conducted highly interactive instruction using blended learning formats, to include classroom, video-conference, and web conference based instruction.

  • DOD, 6%

    Performed first-level quality control, management, and oversight of MCC training curriculum in accordance with applicable National and DoD policies.

  • ELearning, 6%

    Established a video and eLearning development center.

Most course instructors use their skills in "course curriculum," "syllabus," and "course materials" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential course instructor responsibilities here:

Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a course instructor to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "training and development specialists must evaluate training programs, methods, and materials and choose those that best fit each situation." Additionally, a course instructor resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "performed and led course content reviews; led task analysis working groups for new course development. "

Creativity. Another essential skill to perform course instructor duties is creativity. Course instructors responsibilities require that "specialists should be resourceful when developing training materials." Course instructors also use creativity in their role according to a real resume snippet: "created robust classroom environment to capture students' imagination & creativity and motivate them to learn. "

Instructional skills. course instructors are also known for instructional skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to course instructor responsibilities, because "training and development specialists deliver employee training programs." A course instructor resume example shows how instructional skills is used in the workplace: "qualified as master training specialist by demonstrating excellent leadership, technical competence, application of instructional methodology, improving fleet readiness. "

Communication skills. A big part of what course instructors do relies on "communication skills." You can see how essential it is to course instructor responsibilities because "training and development specialists must convey information clearly and facilitate learning to diverse audiences." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical course instructor tasks: "promoted problem solving, communication, and leadership skills through guidance and mentoring during navigation of course. "

See the full list of course instructor skills

The three companies that hire the most course instructors are:

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Compare different course instructors

Course instructor vs. Faculty member

A faculty member is responsible for teaching students a wide range of both vocational and academic subjects. As a faculty member, you will teach and impart knowledge to your students and help them with the learning process and knowledge application. Some of the duties that you will perform include collaborating with colleagues in modifying the curriculum, counseling them about learning difficulties, life choices, and personal problems, and writing recommendations to aid students to secure internships or jobs. You will also participate in activities of professional associations to advance research and standards in the field.

The annual salary of faculty members is $53,460 higher than the average salary of course instructors.Even though course instructors and faculty members are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require course curriculum, syllabus, and course materials in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, course instructor responsibilities require skills like "blended learning," "dod," "elearning," and "cpr." Meanwhile a typical faculty member has skills in areas such as "public health," "powerpoint," "public speaking," and "general education." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Faculty members really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $143,955. Comparatively, course instructors tend to make the most money in the non profits industry with an average salary of $70,254.The education levels that faculty members earn slightly differ from course instructors. In particular, faculty members are 6.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a course instructor. Additionally, they're 4.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Course instructor vs. Faculty

A faculty member is an individual whose primary responsibility is to provide teaching and research to students in colleges and universities. Faculties must work with colleagues to design a curriculum to keep up with the changes in the discipline. They help their students choose majors and mentor them by way of face-to-face or electronic means. They also keep up their communication with alumni to assist with employment searches or career changes.

A career as a faculty brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a course instructor. In fact, faculties salary is $31,016 higher than the salary of course instructors per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Course instructors and faculties both require similar skills like "course curriculum," "syllabus," and "course materials" to carry out their responsibilities.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that course instructor responsibilities requires skills like "dod," "elearning," "national security," and "instructional materials." But a faculty might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "philosophy," "patients," "rehabilitation," and "student learning."

Faculties earn higher levels of education than course instructors in general. They're 6.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 4.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for course instructors in the next 3-5 years?

Helen Callus

Professor of Viola, Northwestern University

For many of us instrumental professors (but not all, due to the limitations of the instrument's nature like percussion or piano), we had already been teaching remotely for some years, and been able to adjust to the current restrictions without impacting our student's experiences in lessons. Teaching remotely will be a part of the future - saving students the cost of travel, hotels, time. We are trying to find creative ways to do things we couldn't otherwise do in person, like having a busy guest from Europe, unable to fly in person but teaching a class via Zoom.

I imagine this might become part of the framework that we offer in the future. Students should understand how to present themselves in these situations, understanding sound and picture quality devices (what microphones and cameras are best), internet speeds, ethernet cables, router devices, lighting, etc. But it is an excellent opportunity to understand the media of film/video and how to create best a sound video recording for competitions, summer festivals, or college applications. We were already using that medium for prescreens, so this is a chance to refine that skill as, without doubt, that will be a part of our future.

Course instructor vs. Adjunct faculty

Adjunct faculty is the collective term for adjunct professors or lecturers. The adjunct faculty teaches students based on the limited-term of their contract. Oftentimes, they teach preparatory or introductory courses by semester arrangement for the entire academic year. Most of them are employed in higher education. Unlike regular professors, adjunct faculty do not have benefits and are not required to be present in meetings. They can work as either a contract professor or a part-time professor.

On average scale, adjunct faculties bring in higher salaries than course instructors. In fact, they earn a $33,680 higher salary per year.course instructors and adjunct faculties both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "course curriculum," "syllabus," and "course materials," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a course instructor is likely to be skilled in "blended learning," "dod," "elearning," and "cpr," while a typical adjunct faculty is skilled in "student learning," "philosophy," "learning environment," and "course objectives."

Adjunct faculties earn the best pay in the government industry, where they command an average salary of $115,189. Course instructors earn the highest pay from the non profits industry, with an average salary of $70,254.adjunct faculties typically earn higher educational levels compared to course instructors. Specifically, they're 12.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Course instructor vs. Trainer

A trainer is responsible for instilling knowledge and process techniques for a specific business role. Duties of a trainer include facilitating engaging classes, identifying areas of improvement and opportunities for the learner, evaluating skills and attending to the learner's challenges, organizing training materials and scheduling training sessions, and submitting timely reports to the management on progress. Trainers are required to have excellent public communication skills and extensive product knowledge to provide effective learning methodologies and maintain strategic project management.

Trainers tend to earn a lower pay than course instructors by an average of $1,815 per year.While both course instructors and trainers complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like course materials, blended learning, and elearning, the two careers vary in some skills.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "course curriculum," "syllabus," "dod," and "student performance" are skills that commonly show up on course instructor resumes. On the other hand, trainers use skills like pet, training programs, bonds, and powerpoint on their resumes.The technology industry tends to pay the highest salaries for trainers, with average annual pay of $51,822. Comparatively, the highest course instructor annual salary comes from the non profits industry.The average resume of trainers showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to course instructors. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 10.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 5.8%.

Types of course instructor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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