What does a course instructor do?
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.
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. "
The three companies that hire the most course instructors are:
- Jacobs Enterprises10 course instructors jobs
- Jacobs Engineering Group
9 course instructors jobs
- Prescient Edge6 course instructors jobs
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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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Types of course instructor
Updated January 8, 2025











