Instructional Designer | Adult Learning Specialist | Data-Driven Educator
I'm an educator transitioning into instructional design, bringing five years of experience creating high-impact learning solutions for adult learners in challenging educational contexts. My work consistently delivers measurable results. Most recently, I helped incarcerated students achieve test scores 11-32% above North Carolina state averages on high school equivalency exams.
Evidence-Based Design: My teaching background means I don't just create content. I design learning experiences grounded in how adults actually learn. Every module I build is tested against real learner outcomes, then refined based on performance data.
Complex Audience Expertise: I specialize in creating accessible, engaging instruction for learners who face significant barriers to education. Whether it's adults returning to learning after 10+ year gaps, professionals learning new skills, or students navigating institutional constraints, I design for the full spectrum of learner needs and contexts.
Data-Driven Iteration: I use assessment data to inform instructional design decisions. At Richmond Correctional Institution, I analyzed FastBridge screening results to identify content gaps, then redesigned curriculum that produced a 250% increase in assessment participation and measurable performance improvements across all subject areas.
I'm completing my MS in Technical Communication from NC State University (graduating May 2026) while teaching full-time and developing e-learning courses using Articulate Rise 360. This combination gives me both theoretical frameworks and hands-on technical skills to build effective digital learning experiences.
My instructional design work spans:
Teaching showed me the power of well-designed learning experiences, but it also revealed the limitations of one-to-one instruction. Instructional design allows me to scale that impact by creating learning solutions that reach hundreds or thousands of learners while maintaining the same careful attention to learner needs, clear learning objectives, and measurable outcomes that defined my classroom work.
This self-paced e-learning course was designed to onboard educators transitioning into adult high school equivalency instruction. The primary challenge was helping licensed K-12 teachers adapt their pedagogical approaches to serve adult learners in correctional and community education settings, while building confidence in teaching unfamiliar content areas like social studies and science at the high school equivalency level.
Target Audience: Adult education instructors, former K-12 educators, GED/HiSET coordinators, adult literacy volunteers
Duration: 6 lessons, 2-3 hours total
Tool: Articulate Rise 360
Upon completion, educators will be able to:
Adult Learning Principles Applied:
Interactive Elements:
Program Application: Currently in use for onboarding new instructors at Richmond Correctional Institution's HiSET program, which achieved:
Adult learners in correctional education settings often struggle with social studies content that feels disconnected from their lives. This module teaches historical analysis skills, cause-and-effect reasoning, and primary source evaluation through the compelling narrative of the Jewish-Roman War (66-73 CE). The conflict offers clear parallels to modern geopolitical tensions.
Target Audience: Adult learners (ages 22-55) preparing for HiSET social studies exam
Duration: 3-4 class sessions (90-120 minutes total)
The Jewish-Roman War offers multiple entry points for engagement:
The module uses a carefully sequenced progression from concrete to abstract:
"This was the first time history made sense to me. I could see why things happened instead of just memorizing dates." - Student, age 34
This mid-year performance report was created to demonstrate program effectiveness to multiple stakeholder groups including prison administration, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, and funding agencies. The challenge was translating complex assessment data into clear visual narratives that would resonate with non-technical audiences while maintaining statistical rigor.
Audience: Correctional facility administrators, state education officials, program funders
Purpose: Demonstrate measurable student outcomes to support continued program funding
Tools: Google Slides, FastBridge assessment platform
1. FastBridge Screening Growth
Assessment participation more than tripled from Fall 2024 to Spring 2025:
2. Graduate Performance vs. North Carolina State Average
Richmond graduates outperformed state average across all five subjects:
3. College Readiness Achievement
55% of HiSET graduates demonstrated college-level readiness by scoring 15+ on at least one subject exam
Graduate creative writing students face a persistent problem: finding relevant submission opportunities scattered across hundreds of literary magazines, contests, residencies, and fellowships is time-consuming and inefficient. This project created a centralized, filterable database of 975+ creative writing opportunities to streamline the discovery process.
Target Users: Creative writing students (undergraduate through PhD), faculty advisors, independent writers
Team: Collaborative project with graduate writing program colleagues
Tool: Google Sheets with advanced filtering
Core Fields:
Filter System:
Problem: "There are too many literary magazines. I don't know where to start."
Solution: Genre and Audience filters narrow 975 opportunities to manageable subsets
Problem: "I found the perfect contest but the deadline passed last week."
Solution: Sortable deadline column allows filtering by date range
Problem: "I spent an hour researching a residency that's for visual artists only."
Solution: Clear categorization provides quick screening before detailed research
"This database saved me so much time. I found three perfect residencies in 10 minutes that I never would have discovered on my own." - Graduate Student, Fiction
I'm actively seeking instructional design roles where I can apply my teaching expertise and technical communication skills to create effective learning experiences. I'm particularly interested in opportunities involving adult learners, performance-based training, or data-driven instructional improvement.
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tom-h-5aa0b656
Location: Newark, New Jersey | Open to remote opportunities
MS in Technical Communication (In Progress)
NC State University | Expected graduation: May 2026
BA in History, BA in Business Administration
University of North Carolina System
CELTA Certification
Cambridge Teaching Knowledge Test
"The best instructional design doesn't feel like teaching. It feels like the learner discovering what they need to know exactly when they need to know it."