Instructional Designer & eLearning Developer

David Schieferstein

Welcome to my professional portfolio. This site highlights my skills, growth, and expertise as an instructional designer and educator committed to creating meaningful, learner-centered experiences. It is designed for future employers, supervisors, and colleagues who want to see evidence of my ability to connect theory with practice, apply proven strategies, and contribute to innovative professional environments.

This portfolio serves two purposes: it is both a showcase of my qualifications, design work, and professional philosophy, as well as a reflection of my continued growth and readiness for leadership opportunities. Inside, you will find my teaching philosophy, examples of instructional design in action, evidence-based research applications, all housed within a professional learning toolkit that captures the strategies and resources I use in practice.

By grounding creativity in research and connecting design to real-world application, I aim to demonstrate how my work supports active participation, deeper understanding, and lasting impact for learners. I invite you to explore these materials as a window into who I am as a professional and how I approach designing transformative learning experiences.

Educator • Designer • Innovator

About Me

I’m an instructional designer and eLearning developer with a background in education and a passion for creating learner centered experiences. My expertise lies in transforming complex information into engaging, accessible and visually compelling materials that support deeper understanding. I bring a unique perspective shaped by my teaching experience, technical skills, and commitment to innovation. My goal is to design solutions that not only meet organizational objectives but also empower learners to grow with confidence.

Core Frameworks

Professional Learning Toolkit

Strategies & approaches that bridge theory to practice, supporting meaningful, learner-centered education.

Teaching Philosophy

Centered on Learners

Reflection & Growth

Real-World Application

Evidence-Based Practice

Research-to-Practice

Design in Practice

Instructional Design

Assessment & Feedback

Assessment Literacy

Storytelling

Toolkit Extensions

Maintaining Motivation

Toolkit Extensions

Centered on Learners

Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy is rooted in having respect for learners as well as the belief that education should be empowering and transformative.

I design learning environments where students feel known, supported and valued so that diverse perspectives shape the learning.

Grounded in constructivist principles and instructional design models, like ADDIE and SAM, my work translates theory into meaningful, real-world learning experiences.

I see teaching as a partnership; a shared construction of knowledge where both learners and facilitators strive for continuous improvement together.

This philosophy guides every design choice I make, shaping content, structure and engagement strategies that foster curiosity and collaboration.

By grounding my approach in both theory and practice, I create experiences that help learners connect ideas to real-world contexts, apply skills with confidence and thrive in diverse learning environments.

Real-world application

Reflection & Growth

Reflection is a deliberate practice used to transform experiences into purposeful action and strengthen professional growth.

Guided by Schön’s reflective practice and Kolb’s experiential learning cycle, reflection provides a structured process for examining outcomes, identifying areas for growth, and applying insights to future work.

This practice bridges theory with application so that every design decision is intentional, informed, and aligned with learner needs.

Each reflection highlights both successes and challenges, reinforcing the value of iteration and adaptability in design through Kolb’s experiential learning cycle.

By embedding reflection into professional learning events, growth becomes intentional, adaptive, and impactful as Schön describes in his model of reflective practice.

This process mirrors how I support learners by encouraging experimentation, resilience, and continuous improvement consistent with constructivist principles.

Theory-to-Practice

Evidence-Based Practice

Strong instructional design must be grounded in research, and effective practice requires translating that research into action. Evidence-based design ensures learning is not only innovative but also credible, measurable, and impactful.

My exploration of pair programming and computational thinking demonstrated how collaborative, research-backed strategies can increase engagement and problem-solving in middle school learners.

These findings align with Vygotsky’s social constructivism, which emphasizes the role of social interaction in cognitive development.

Similarly, my annotated bibliography project required synthesizing theory into actionable insights, showing how evidence guides design decisions across diverse contexts.

By bridging theory and praxis, I have developed the ability to critically evaluate methods, adapt findings to diverse learning environments, and defend design choices with both creativity and credibility.

These experiences ensure that my work remains firmly anchored in evidence-based practice and grounded in the praxis of continuous improvement.

Instructional Design

Design in Practice

Design is where philosophy and research are transformed into tangible learning experiences.

My work with project-based learning units, assessment plans, and instructional rubrics demonstrates the full design cycle: analyzing needs, planning solutions, prototyping, testing, and refining.

Guided by models like ADDIE and Backward Design, the artifacts below show how theory is translated into instructional practice that is both learner-centered and evidence-based.

Effective design is both an art and a science, requiring balance between creativity and structure as well as innovation and practicality.

By engaging in iterative cycles of design, I have developed the skills that support the creation of learning experiences that are impactful, adaptable, and scalable to meet the needs of diverse learners and professional environments.

Assessment Literacy

Assessment & Feedback

Strong and supportive assessment provides clear expectations, meaningful feedback, and opportunities for growth.

Effective design balances formative and summative approaches so learners can reflect, adjust, and demonstrate mastery throughout the process.

Drawing on Bloom’s domains, assessment addresses not only knowledge but also performance and values, ensuring outcomes that are practical and personally meaningful.

Fink’s taxonomy adds depth by emphasizing Integration and the Human Dimension, which guide learners to connect ideas across contexts and build greater self-awareness.

Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model further strengthens practice by highlighting application and behavioral change as indicators of lasting learning.

Together, these frameworks shape assessments that are transparent, supportive, and growth-oriented, motivating learners to transfer knowledge confidently into practice and achieve meaningful results.

Toolkit Extensions

Storytelling

Stories make learning memorable. They provide structure, evoke emotion, and anchor abstract ideas in concrete experience.

Integrating storytelling into instructional design creates connections that extend beyond content into lived experience and informs how learners reflect, adapt, and act on new knowledge.

Learning is rooted in experience, and storytelling ensures those experiences resonate with learners in meaningful ways, encouraging them to reframe challenges and apply insights in real-world contexts.

Effective teaching draws on multiple ways of learning, and storytelling engages imagination and reflection, making concepts both purposeful and personal.

Through storytelling, reflection and action are intertwined, demonstrating my praxis of applying Dewey’s experiential learning principles to create purposeful and impactful learning experiences.

Motivation in adult learning grows when instruction appeals to identity, relevance, and values—all of which are naturally embedded in stories and transformed into practice through meaningful application.

Toolkit Extensions

Maintaining Motivation

Sustained motivation is the engine of meaningful education, fueling resilience, deep engagement, and growth that extends into every aspect of learners’ lives.

My approach to fostering motivation is grounded in principles of autonomy, relevance, and belonging, creating experiences that empower learners to see themselves as active agents in their growth.

From game-based learning that sparks curiosity to collaborative inquiry that builds community, every design choice aims to keep learners invested and inspired.

Reflection has shown that motivated learners are not only more engaged but also more persistent, turning challenges into opportunities for deeper growth.

By embedding these reflections into praxis, I cultivate motivation that extends beyond the immediate learning moment and becomes a foundation for lifelong growth.

Guided by Dewey’s view that education must connect experience to purpose, I design environments that ignite motivation, sustain momentum, and transform learning into a lifelong pursuit of possibility.

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