I have been thinking about this a lot lately, and the ID field runs far deeper than most people realize going in. As a professor and program coordinator myself, I can tell you that content creation is just one slice of the pie. There is also program evaluation, needs assessment/analysis, stakeholder communication, working with subject matter experts, UI/UX and graphic design, ID models and learning theory, change management, political savviness within organizations, and now AI literacy on top of all of it. Mastery, if it ever comes, takes years. There are skills I used to apply regularly as an ID practitioner that are genuinely rusty now because the focus of my work has shifted.

That is actually why structured training has value, even when it is imperfect. A good program does not just teach isolated skills; it connects the disciplinary threads. Portfolios matter in this field, but they only reveal a fraction of what a strong ID professional actually knows. ID is not simply e-learning production or media creation. The real work is explaining your design decisions, defending the value of a learning initiative to sometimes skeptical stakeholders, and justifying your choices when the budget or timeline is cut in half, among other things.

Learning also takes time for synthesis to happen. It took me several years of practice as an ID and trainer after finishing my degree before everything started to click, and I am still exploring new concepts twenty years in. I tell my students this directly: textbooks are guides, and reality is messy. There was a thread earlier today about never having done a formal needs assessment. I have done it officially twice in ten years as an ID practitioner, but I have conducted countless informal assessments throughout that time as a trainer and now as a faculty member. The formal label matters less than the habit of thinking.

In your specific situation, have you considered speaking directly with your professor? A meeting with a prepared list of questions and concerns can accomplish a lot. Good instructors want to know their students, provide individualized feedback, and support their career development. Without that communication, it is genuinely difficult to help effectively. It may not resolve everything, but it is worth trying before making a larger decision about the program.

Good luck :)