College of Education, Hospitality, Health and

Human Sciences
School of Education
University of Wisconsin-Stout
P.O. Box 790
Menomonie, WI 54751-0790
267 Heritage Hall
Phone: 928-254-9353
Fax: 928-282-2371
Email: mackenzie-smithj@uwstout.edu

DATE: May 5, 2017

TO: Whom it May Concern
FROM: Jane MacKenzie, Adjunct Faculty
SUBJECT: Danielle Lueck

This letter is in support of Danielle Luecks application for a position in Instructional design.
Danielle was a student of mine in the Certificate of Instructional Design program at UW-Stout. I
taught the final, capstone course in Project Management for Instructional Designers. In this
course, students work in teams of four to five students and must find a way to work
collaboratively, often over quite different time zones. In these teams, they work with a case
study to determine the appropriate solutions to the presenting problem and complete all
critical project management and instructional design documents to move the project from start
to finish.
This course is the most demanding of the four courses; however, it puts the other courses
together in a project perspective, helping students to learn project management standards and
skills as well as to dive deeper into instructional design practices. The documents they produce
include:
Gap Analysis or Needs Assessment, a strategy for determining root causes to a
performance problem
Performance Analysis report, reporting the results of the gap analysis and making
recommendations for the client in the case study to carry out to improve staff
performance
Project Charter, spelling out the details of the project including scope statement,
assumptions, constraints, external dependencies, budget, milestones, and risk
assessment
Project Plan, including Work Breakdown Structure, Schedule, Gantt chart, more detailed
scope statement, Communication Plan, more detailed Risk Management Plan, and
Change Management Plan (managing changes that might be requested during the
project)
Design Document, for the course they planned to teach to the company staff, that
includes instructional strategy, topical outline, and detailed outline including
performance objectives, instructional methods and assessment methods and activities
for each skill and knowledge topic
 Facilitator Guide for part of the course, a document intended to guide new facilitators
through the course so that they can teach it the way the instructional designer intended
it to be taught
Danielle and her team completed all these documents with consistently high quality. Danielle
was particularly instrumental in helping her team achieve top grades since she was always
prepared on the team calls and usually the first one to complete her assigned work. In addition,
she was the one to reach out to me if she or the team had a question. She was very careful to
clarify instructions and see additional input or guidance when unsure. In addition, she regularly
offered to help others after she had completed her own work. Danielle assumed the role of
one of the instructional designers on her team, and she regularly offered creative ideas not only
for the design but also for the needs assessment. Her teams design for the tasks they decided
to teach was one of the most creative ones of the teams, and I attribute much of that to her
input.
In addition to creating these documents, students participate in weekly discussion forums on
topics related to the weeks document. Danielle was a regular, thoughtful contributor to these
discussions; even though, these discussions were not graded.
Based on her demonstrated knowledge of Project Management and Instructional Design in this
class and her positive, constructive, and creative attitude, I have no reservations in
recommending Danielle highly for a position in instructional design. I know she will carry out
her responsibilities respectfully, conscientiously, and creatively.
If you have questions, feel free to contact me at the number above.

Sincerely,
Jane MacKenzie
Jane MacKenzie