Instructional Design for Subject Matter Experts Training Course – Paris, 15–19 Mar 2027

Instructional design for subject matter experts is a 1-week training course for engineers, clinicians and other specialists asked to turn what they know into a course, and for the new designers who partner with them. They produce a course design document for one real topic from their own field. Organisations increasingly rely on in-house experts to build training, yet expertise alone rarely produces clear learning. Jupiter Prime Training offers this course to help experts teach.

Why Instructional Design for Subject Matter Experts Matters Now

Two pressures make this skill urgent. Specialist knowledge sits with a shrinking group of senior experts, and organisations need it transferred before those people move on. At the same time, budgets favour in-house course building over buying external content. When experts design well, new staff reach competence faster and costly mistakes fall; when they simply download everything they know onto slides, learners drown in detail and forget most of it. The course draws on the ADDIE instructional design model as a light structure and the Kirkpatrick four-level evaluation model to link objectives with evidence of learning.

Who Gains Most from Instructional Design for Subject Matter Experts

• Technical specialists asked to create training on their own discipline
• Senior practitioners who coach new hires and want structured learning materials
• New instructional designers who interview experts and shape their content
• Internal trainers who convert expert notes into sessions and e-learning
• Knowledge owners responsible for capturing critical know-how before it is lost

Departments gain most when an expert and the designer who will support them attend together and practise the interview-to-storyboard handover as a pair.

Instructional Design for Subject Matter Experts Capabilities

The focus is on deciding what an expert should leave out as much as what to keep.

• Separate need-to-know content from nice-to-know detail using task evidence — course sponsors
• Write measurable learning objectives with clear conditions and criteria — assessment designers
• Apply knowledge extraction interviews to surface tacit expert judgement — new instructional designers
• Build storyboards that sequence explanation, example and practice — e-learning developers
• Align assessment items with each objective so results show real competence — line managers
• Specify a course design document others can build from — training coordinators

Key Instructional Design for Subject Matter Experts Terms

• Subject matter expert (SME) — the person whose specialist knowledge and judgement form the content of a course.
• Tacit knowledge — expert know-how used without conscious thought, which must be drawn out through questioning and observation.
• Learning objective — a statement of what a participant will be able to do, under what conditions, to what standard.
• Storyboard — a screen-by-screen or segment-by-segment plan showing text, visuals, activities and timing.
• Assessment alignment — matching each test item or task to the objective it is meant to prove.
• Course design document — the blueprint that records audience, objectives, structure, activities and assessment for a course.

Instructional Design for Subject Matter Experts Day by Day

Day 1: From Expert to Course Designer

• Curse of Knowledge — Why Experts Overload Beginners With Detail
• Training Needs Analysis — Confirming A Course Is The Right Answer
• Learner Profile Sketch — Prior Knowledge, Role And Constraints
• ADDIE As A Light Structure — Scoping Effort For Expert Authors
• Expert And Designer Partnership Charter — Agreeing Roles And Sign-Offs

Day 2: Extracting and Filtering Expert Knowledge

• Knowledge Extraction Interviews — Questions That Surface Tacit Judgement
• Task Walk-Through Observation — Capturing Steps Experts Skip
• Need-To-Know Versus Nice-To-Know Filter — Cutting Content Ruthlessly
• Critical Incident Stories — Turning Expert Mistakes Into Examples
• Content Outline Mapping — Grouping Topics By Job Task

Day 3: Objectives and Assessment Alignment

• Bloom's Taxonomy Verbs — Matching Objective Level To Job Demand
• Condition, Behaviour, Criterion Format — Writing Measurable Objectives
• Assessment Item Writing — Questions And Tasks That Prove Competence
• Alignment Matrix — Linking Objectives, Activities And Assessments
• Kirkpatrick Levels Planning — Choosing Evidence Beyond Test Scores

Day 4: Storyboards and Learning Activities

• Explain, Show, Practise Sequence — Structuring Each Lesson Segment
• Worked Examples And Job Aids — Supporting Transfer To The Job
• Storyboard Template — Text, Visuals, Interaction And Timing
• Plain Language Editing — Removing Jargon Without Losing Accuracy
• Pilot Session Feedback — Testing Clarity With Novice Learners

Day 5: Practising the Course Design Document

• Expert Interview Rehearsal — Applying Day 2 Questioning To Peer Topics
• Objective And Assessment Review — Checking Day 3 Alignment Matrix
• Storyboard Peer Critique — Refining Day 4 Lesson Segments
• Sign-Off Walk-Through — Presenting The Design To A Sponsor
• Course Design Document — Completing The Blueprint For One Real Topic

Applying Instructional Design for Subject Matter Experts After the Course

• Run a knowledge extraction interview with a colleague expert and filter the output into need-to-know and nice-to-know content.
• Rewrite the objectives and assessment of one existing course using the alignment matrix and share it with the course owner.

Instructional Design for Subject Matter Experts Questions (FAQ)

What is instructional design for subject matter experts, and why does it matter now?

It is the practice of turning specialist knowledge into clear, focused courses. It matters now because organisations rely on in-house experts to build training before critical know-how is lost.

Which roles gain most from instructional design for subject matter experts?

Technical specialists, senior practitioners, new instructional designers and internal trainers gain most, particularly when an expert and a designer learn the same handover method.

How does instructional design for subject matter experts differ from a general instructional design course?

A general course trains full-time designers across every phase and format. This course centres on the expert, showing how to extract, filter and structure knowledge without professional design experience.

What do you bring back from instructional design for subject matter experts?

You bring back a course design document for a real topic from your own field, with objectives, an alignment matrix and storyboards ready for development.

Instructional Design for Subject Matter Experts: The Way Forward

The course design document is the starting point. Its first use is agreeing scope and sign-off with the course sponsor before any slides are built. Experts, designers and developers use it as one shared blueprint. After the first pilot, revisit the need-to-know filter, because learner questions usually show which detail was cut too far or kept too long.