METR

Welcome! This page showcases my instructional design work for the METR hiring team. I’m eager to learn new skills to support roles beyond my current experience. Thank you for your time and consideration.

About Andy Sheppard

Andy Sheppard wearing a blue collared shirt, sending a special "hello" to users of assistive technology. I welcome your feedback to improve the design of this webpage.

As detailed on my resume, I worked 17 years at the University of Florida and 10 years at Santa Fe College, providing instructional design support for both in-person teaching and online learning. Moreover, I’ve spent the past 12 years engaged in entrepreneurial pursuits centered around media development.

In the past few years, I’ve largely focused on designing training on emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. More recently, I’ve leveraged these tools in my commercial work. Examples follow below.

Work Examples

Academic Example – Artificial Intelligence Training

I scripted and edited the following video for SF College’s ‘AI Toolkit,’ introducing recent AI advances to faculty. I worked collaboratively with the campus’s AI committee to design this training. This video was created prior to Open AI’s recent advances in image generation capabilities.

Academic Example – Entrepreneurial Mindset Training

When Santa Fe College received a grant to promote an Entrepreneurial Mindset across the student body, I collaborated with a team of faculty to design and deliver the training program. This was an exciting endeavor as it aligned with both my academic and commercial interests. When the team hit a creative wall on how to create the first introductory video, I suggested the use of voice actors to both introduce and narrate the subsequent videos. While these videos were useful, the cornerstone of the training was the asynchronous discussion boards wherein participants tapped into the collective wisdom of their peers.

Academic Example – Gamified Tutorial

This multimedia experience is a Spider-Man themed interactive tutorial, and it includes a game designed to promote growth mindset. My audience for this tutorial was first-year college students; gamification can be especially engaging for these younger learners. I designed this game using Articulate Storyline 360.

Play Game (new window)

Commercial Example – Screen Recording Promo

For this video, the client provided a Zoom recording with some basic text labels embedded within it. The client wanted to guide viewers through different parts of their web portal. I added a variety of callouts to focus the viewer on relevant areas, added an AI-generated voiceover and royalty-free music.

Design Process

While many of the instructional design examples listed on this page demonstrate applied technical skills, the more important skillset I bring is my instructional design approach. I seek to understand the needs of the audience and focus on the knowledge or skills participants will need to gain. As Grant Wiggins and Jay McTigue articulate, this approach is known as backwards design. I design trainings and resources with the end goal in mind; and I strive to remain current on evidence-based design practices.

Icon representing "Universal Access". It depicts a blue human stick figure standing up with arms stretched wide, within a dark gray circle. This icon is used to indicate additional accommodations are available. You might see this icon in public places like airports, or within the settings area of video game menus.

During the design process, I’m passionate about universal design—creating with disabled users in mind. I prioritize accessible colors, include captions and transcripts, and ensure consistent, predictable formatting. When appropriate for the audience, I make occasional use of pop culture references, memes and emoji.

After designing a training session or multimedia asset, I find a way to assess its impact. This assessment might involve the use of surveys, focus groups or tracking data from within a learning portal. For example: in my prior teaching, I would host my own instructor-created videos on YouTube and embed them within our course platform. In doing so, I could access YouTube’s more robust analytics to determine what portion(s) of videos my students would watch, and when they were typically viewed. This data would then inform my revision of the instructional content.

What Lies Ahead …

I’ve been enthusiastic about recent advances in AI technology, as I’ve benefited from its use both personally and professionally. And, I’m excited about what’s on the horizon. If I’m fortunate enough to join METR, I’ll have a rare front row seat within emerging technologies; and I’m incredibly eager to look behind the scenes and learn as much as a I can about modern AI development.

Thank you for considering my work examples. Have a great day!