5 questions to... Andrew Muccio
LDA blog post - July 2025
This is a new post of our special blog series: “5 questions to…” where LDA members share their thoughts and experiences. We hope you’ll enjoy!
This month, we asked 5 questions to Andrew Muccio.
Learn more about Andrew:
Andrew is an instructional designer with 20 years of experience in developing and delivering in-person and online instructional solutions for government and corporate organizations. He focuses his professional learning on evidence-informed practices from various fields (e.g., learning science, performance improvement, business development) for integration into multifaceted solutions for clients.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-muccio-cptd-ckm-224a032/
What brought you to the L&D field?
I followed a standard accidental instructional designer path. I started out my career as a software support representative and saw that a lot of customer issues may have been better resolved by training. Little did I know I was only scratching the surface in the tapestry of the L&D domain. However, you can’t beat the feeling of taking a new theoretical construct and applying it well in practice. I’d like to think this happens more now, after 20 years in the field 😊
What project(s) are you currently working on?
Developing and delivering instructional solutions for military organizations.
What is your biggest frustration or challenge in your L&D practice?
The pervasive myths (e.g., learning styles) within the L&D industry have been challenging for me to address. Obviously, this is my responsibility to seek out and discern credible and reliable sources in all forums. I take that responsibility much more seriously now in my practice. I frequently encounter these myths, so it can be overwhelming to sift through a lot of resources and find scientific evidence for better integration into L&D practice.
What advice would you give a new L&D practitioner?
(Shameless Plug 😊) First, join LDA as you will gain a network of peers and a community that will be your essential guide towards comprehensive and continuous improvement of your L&D practice.
Next, start reading L&D books from the research translators. There are so many great books and authors in the L&D field, but to make this advice more actionable, I would recommend starting with Design for how people learn by Julie Dirksen and Learning Science for Instructional Designers: From Cognition to Application by Clark Quinn. These authors do a great job of providing the basics of learning design in a straightforward manner and foster curiosity to seek out many more domains (e.g., performance support, behavioral economics) that will support your career growth.
Finally, try hard to give yourself grace to understand that evidence-informed practice is not an overnight process and involves a lot of intentional discernment, execution, and reflection over time. It’s easier said than done. You’ll get better even despite the challenges if you’re intentional about integrating these components. Heck, after 20 years, I still have a lot of work to do and a lot of growth to make.
What value does the LDA community bring to your work/practice?
I’m very grateful for the LDA community, which includes expert learning and development research translators and practitioners who exemplify translating research into evidence-informed practice. Also, the members of this great community have always steered me with their modeling of discerning what to look for in multiple domains, which evidence is valid, working through how this evidence can be translated and applied to L&D practice. I have many more tools (e.g., analytical, design) that I now employ to deliver better solutions to my clients. Additionally, my personal journey to become more evidence-informed in everyday life is continuously reinforced and supported in this excellent community.
Thanks to Andrew for answering our questions! Share your insights in the comments below!