February 11, 2025 • 16 mins
KatieAnn Nguyen is a Chemistry student at Dominican University of California. She's also a peer mentor for digital portfolios at Dominican.
In this episode, KatieAnn shares what she does as a peer mentor and why she thinks portfolios are important for students to create.
This episode is the third of five interviews with portfolio authors from Dominican University of California whom I was privileged to meet in preparation for and during the first AAEEBL ePortfolio Retreat that was held at Dominican on 18 October 2024.
Connect with KatieAnn on LinkedIn
Resources
- KatieAnn's portfolio
- The Dominican Experience, of which the portfolio work is part
- Digital portfolio support at Dominican
- Christina Mayes, MS, Manager of the Fletcher Jones Digital Portfolio Lab
Related Dominican University of California episodes:
- Solena Ornelas: Set goals and achieve them with a portfolio
- Starlight (José) Lain-Straus: The portfolio as impactful practice for students
- Arturo Flores, Jr.: The portfolio is a reflection of yourself
Subscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.
Production information
Production: Catalyst IT
Host: Kristina Hoeppner
Artwork: Evonne Cheung
Music: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kristina Hoeppner (00:05):
Welcome to 'Create. Share. Engage.' This is
the podcast about portfolios forlearning and more for educators,
learning designers, and managerskeen on integrating portfolios
with their education andprofessional development
practices. 'Create. Share.
Engage.' is brought to you bythe Mahara team at Catalyst IT.
My name is Kristina Hoeppner.
(00:25):
Today you'll hear my interviewwith KatieAnn Nguyen. KatieAnn
is a student at DominicanUniversity of California where I
visited in October 2024 as partof the first AAEEBL ePortfolio
Retreat. Christina Mayes, themanager of the Fletcher Jones
Digital Portfolio Lab atDominican and one of this year's
new AAEEBL Digital Ethics TaskForce members recommended I have
(00:46):
a chat with her. Welcome to thepodcast, KatieAnn!
KatieAnn Nguyen (00:49):
Thanks for having me.
Kristina Hoeppner (00:51):
Tell me a little bit about yourself. What
do you study?
KatieAnn Nguyen (00:53):
Right now I'm a Chemistry major, third year at
Dominican University ofCalifornia, and I have two
minors in Community Action andSocial Change, which is our
social justice minor here atDominican, as well as Global
Public Health, and I haveaspirations in the future to
apply to medical school and goon to become a pediatrician.
Kristina Hoeppner (01:10):
Fantastic.
That's quite the journey inhealth that you're having,
helping people and supportingthem throughout, and you're
already starting now withsupporting your students here on
campus. KatieAnn, when did youcreate your first portfolio,
please?
KatieAnn Nguyen (01:23):
I first began my digital portfolio in my
'Navigating college' class hereat Dominican. So at Dominican,
we have a class that we enrolfirst year students, and it's to
help students navigate incollege in this sense. So we
help them develop study habits,figure out how to register for a
class next semester, as well aspractice financial literacy, and
all these little things that younever really think about in your
first semester, other than like,'Oh, where am I gonna live? What
(01:46):
am I gonna bring?' We basicallyfocus on those little things.
One of the components ofDominican's curriculum is that
we develop a digital portfolio.
I was introduced to the topic inthis 'Navigating college' class
by two peer mentors, which iswhat I do now as a role here at
Dominican. We basically workwith students to develop this
digital portfolio, and I startedmy first year here, so my
freshman semester 1. So my firstsemester here at Dominican, I
(02:08):
actually began my digitalportfolio.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:12):
Is 'Navigating college' actually a
mandatory course or can youstill opt in?
KatieAnn Nguyen (02:17):
It's an opt-in course. We do encourage students
to participate in it justbecause we believe that it
brings students together, and italso connects them with
different topics that they mightnot think about when they're
first coming into or startingout at college in the first
place.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:31):
You just mentioned that you are now a
peer mentor yourself, so peopleyou encountered in your first
semester. How do you support thestudents in their creation of
portfolios?
KatieAnn Nguyen (02:40):
This year is a little different as a digital
portfolio mentor just because Iwork primarily with everyone's
digital portfolio. So I havedifferent meetings with them, I
talk them through makingaesthetics, figuring out what is
really important to them thatthey want to showcase on this
digital portfolio. Because atthe end of the day, I like to
emphasise that, 'Oh, a digitalportfolio, yes, it is for career
development, but it's also areflective piece, and it's how
(03:01):
you can look back at your timehere spent at Dominican. What
different experiences have youbeen a part of? What was really
meaningful during these fouryears at Dominican?' I like to
emphasise and work with them on,first, creating something that
they'll be really proud of goingback and looking back on, and
second, creating something thatthey can take with them as a
little artefact from their timehere at Dominican.
Kristina Hoeppner (03:20):
When you're working with your students, do
you have a sort of template thatyou give them or do you model
portfolio work them for them? Doyou use exemplars of what
students had done before?
KatieAnn Nguyen (03:30):
First, I like to showcase mine, and I like to
preface that it can be reallyoverwhelming just because I've
been working on my digitalportfolio for so many years. So
I like to preface that noteveryone's is going to look like
this at the beginning becauseagain, it is a showcase of your
four years here at Dominican. Soas you continue your time here,
it's obviously going to grow alittle bit more. You're going to
develop a little bit moreskills, a little bit more things
(03:50):
to strengthen your work here.
So I like to showcase mine, andmine talks about my work here as
a chemistry student. I do a lotof work in the lab, in the wet
lab, and I do a lot of hands-onresearch. So I showcase some of
that, my coursework andeverything. Depending on their
major, we do have some samplestudent showcases, and I like to
show them the differentexamples, too, so that they can
(04:11):
get the wide range of what isworking. What do I like from
this portfolio, and what do Ilike from this other portfolio,
and how can I combine that intosomething that I'll be really
proud of.
If it's a nursing student, wehave a couple of nursing majors,
then I like to showcase adifferent one, so that way they
can see a chemistry one, anursing, and then another
nursing. If it's education, Iknow they have very strict
guidelines, so we do have acouple education majors, too. So
(04:33):
I really like to emphasiseshowing instead of just telling
because it really demonstratesthese students, 'Oh, why is this
important?' And it really givesthem insight on how this can
come together as a whole.
Kristina Hoeppner (04:42):
And also see that every student creates their
portfolio differently. Onlybecause yours has lots of images
and then text next to it andlots of images again, somebody
else who might prefer torepresent themselves differently
can also do that.
KatieAnn Nguyen (04:57):
Yeah. A lot of it is, I guess, a lot stylistic.
That's something I hadn't reallyconsidered before. But yeah,
you're right. A lot of it is,'Oh, does someone want a lot of
images, or does someone want tohave it more wordy?' It just
depends on the person. I thinkit's a really great artefact and
a really great tool for studentsto have because it really
showcases them as a person, andthen it also showcases their
work here.
Kristina Hoeppner (05:17):
How many students do you then support
KatieAnn?
KatieAnn Nguyen (05:19):
Right now, I do support anyone who is willing to
come. We're in a time where nota lot of students are coming to
visit us just because a lot ofthem are stressed from midterms,
and we totally understand that.
Right now, I have a set ofaround 20 freshmen. These are
the students who are notenrolled in a digital portfolio
class. Instead, I reach out tothem about digital portfolio
work, I help them get startedbecause they're not involved in
the class that does help you getthose first steps started. So I
(05:42):
reach out to them. They'vescheduled a couple meetings with
me and my other partner becausewe split our mentees together.
It's around 20 between the twoof us.
In addition to that, anyone elsewho is recommended from the
'Navigating college' class tobook a session with some of our
digital portfolio mentors oranyone else who stumbles upon
us, I'm always open to helpinganyone, as long as it falls
(06:04):
within my availability.
Sometimes I come in and I don'thave any digital portfolio
working sessions, and sometimesI do. It just depends on the
week.
Kristina Hoeppner (06:10):
So you kind of have some office hours.
KatieAnn Nguyen (06:12):
Yeah, I do have office hours. I work in the
office here two hours a week fordigital portfolio and one hour
for the Student Success Center.
Kristina Hoeppner (06:19):
Do the students who create the
portfolios as part of the'Navigating college' class or
also the ones that here aresupporting who are not
participating in the classreceive any other support in
working on their portfolios.
KatieAnn Nguyen (06:31):
I'm part of a section of the Student Success
Center, so all of it is reallyincorporated. If you talk to any
integrative coach, they'll beable to talk about their
portfolio. And so all thesestudents are able to get support
from them. In addition,depending on your major, there
are some majors that have moreof an emphasis on digital
portfolio, and some of them whodon't have as much of an
emphasis, but they all help thatyou incorporate these different
(06:52):
aspects.
Before coming here, actually,someone was talking to me and
was like, 'Oh, can you come andspeak to the chemistry students
and the biology, kinesiologystudents because I'm doing a
workshop for digital portfolioI'm helping develop for first
year students. Can you come andpresent?' It's just like little
things like that whereprofessors are having people
come in and present there. Sobusiness majors, someone who is
recommended by a professor willgo and present their digital
(07:14):
portfolio for the businessmajors. And then, in my
instance, the STEM teacher cameand contacted me, just because I
have more of the STEM backgroundwith my digital portfolio.
Kristina Hoeppner (07:22):
The portfolio that I saw online that Christina
had sent through, is that youronly one or do you also have
other portfolios that are maybemore class based?
KatieAnn Nguyen (07:31):
That's my only portfolio. It's really based on
my entire time at Dominican. Itincorporates my class list, it
incorporates the differentactivities I've been in, some
internships as well. I justreally wanted it to portray
myself, not just as a student,but also, what do I do outside
of studying? What do I do todevelop myself as a person?
Kristina Hoeppner (07:49):
How often do you update it?
KatieAnn Nguyen (07:51):
It depends on where I'm showcasing it.
Kristina Hoeppner (07:55):
So you do actually adapt your portfolio.
You adjust it.
KatieAnn Nguyen (07:58):
I do adjust it, yeah. I adjusted it before the
summer. I've touched it a littlebit this semester. I haven't had
as much time. It does need alittle bit more updating, but I
try to at least regularly do itat least once a semester to
update my classes, add somecoursework, also add different
things I've been doing thatsemester because it's fresh in
my mind, I can just write itdown.
Kristina Hoeppner (08:20):
Where do see the benefits of creating
portfolios for your fellowstudents?
KatieAnn Nguyen (08:25):
I like to tell people who come to my sessions
that this digital portfolio isreally beneficial in career
development. And also I thinkit's nice to just have an
artefact of your time here,because in high school, I didn't
have this tool, and so ifsomeone were to ask me, 'What
did you do in high school?' Itwould just be like, 'I think I
took this class. I think I wentand volunteered here.' I don't
have a set thing where I canjust say, look back and review
(08:46):
what I've done.
What I like about the digitalportfolio is that since I'm
applying for med school laterdown the line, if I decide to
take a gap year, it's not goingto be as fresh in my mind. So
I'll be able to take thisresource and go back on it and
say, 'This is something I did inmy freshman year,' and this can
really help with my applicationdown the line. In addition to
students, I would say it's areally nice website to have also
(09:07):
applying to jobs because some ofmy jobs or internships that I've
applied to, they've asked, 'Oh,do you have a website?' And this
can definitely be a tool thatyou can put on it, and it can
show something a little bit morethan just what your résumé can
show because it goes a littlebit more in depth about your
class load, it shows your workexperience, anything else like
that. It dives deeper in yououtside of just being a student,
outside of just being a job. Itkind of combines all of you and
(09:29):
your career exploration as wellas your academic development. So
it's a really nice resource forboth your own personal growth,
your own personal reflection,and then also, if you do apply
for jobs, you can also add it asa supplement to your
application.
Kristina Hoeppner (09:43):
What would you have liked to know about the
portfolio when you started atDominican and had no idea since
you were not introduced it athigh school?
KatieAnn Nguyen (09:53):
I guess one of the things I would have wanted
to know was the emphasis onkeeping it regularly updated.
Because if I hadn't been a peermentor, I don't believe I would
have been as in depth with it asI am now, but being a peer
mentor has definitely pushed meto make sure that it's up to
date all the time. But if Ihadn't been as up to date, I
don't think I would have valuedthe resource of it as much. I
(10:17):
know what a couple students I'vetalked to, they're like, 'Oh,
what's a digital portfolio?' Or'will I really need this down
the line?' Working with thesestudents and seeing how much of
an impact it has had for me,especially because I like
looking back and being like,'This is what I did. It's like a
source of pride' knowing thatI'm able to create a website and
everything, that's a good skillto take with you to any job.
It's definitely something that Iwish I would have known in the
(10:39):
beginning, this is somethingreally important and something
that can be really useful in thelong run.
Kristina Hoeppner (10:45):
Are you showing your portfolio also to
your friends or to family, or isit just part of your
professional life?
KatieAnn Nguyen (10:51):
It depends, but sometimes I do show it to my
friends because they'll ask,'What was on your digital
portfolio?' Because they'll beworking on theirs, or they'll be
like, 'What did you take forthis semester?' And I can't
remember off the top of my head,so I'll pull it up, and they'll
be like, 'Oh, what is that?' AndI'll just talk a little bit more
in depth about it. I haven'tshown my family. Maybe that is
something I'll have to thinkabout in the future, but it is
(11:11):
definitely something I've talkedabout with my friends more on
the casual level, instead of,like, a professional level,
Kristina Hoeppner (11:16):
What would you like to be able to do with
portfolios that you currentlycan't?
KatieAnn Nguyen (11:20):
I think I would say I'm pretty content with how
the portfolio works for me. Ireally like how Dominican
emphasises it, and I like howthey walk us through the steps
of creation, and they talk alittle bit about why it's so
important in the long run. And Ithink just them having it as a
resource and having it that'ssomething that we have to create
during our time here isdefinitely more than I would
have anticipated. I do admit, atthe beginning I was a little
(11:43):
like 'It's just another thing tocreate,' but being in my third
year now, it's really nice tohave and just be able to
highlight, 'Oh yeah, I workedwith one of this volunteer
team,' and so I'm really contentwith how our programme is set
up, and the fact that we haveall these different digital
portfolio mentors in the DP Labjust to work with different
students?
Kristina Hoeppner (12:01):
From what I've heard so far, it's a
wonderful team, and you alsohave an amazing space upstairs
from where we are sitting rightnow, where you can get really
nice and comfortable. You alsohave this movable furniture so
that you can work in groups, butalso separately. Do you then
hold your sessions in thatDigital Portfolio Lab's room?
KatieAnn Nguyen (12:19):
I actually give the option between online or in
person. So a lot of my in personsessions are held in the Digital
Portfolio Lab, and if theDigital Portfolio Lab is taken
up for any reason, we just stayin the Student Success Center.
Kristina Hoeppner (12:31):
We're already at our last three questions,
KatieAnn, so the first one isfor you, which words or short
phrases do you use to describeportfolio work?
KatieAnn Nguyen (12:40):
Mine would be exploration, expressive, and
reflective.
Kristina Hoeppner (12:45):
Thank you for those. What tip do you have for
instructors or instructionaldesigners, learning designers
when they are creating portfolioactivities for students?
KatieAnn Nguyen (12:55):
I think it can be a really overwhelming task in
the beginning just because youlook at all these developed
digital portfolios, and you'relike, 'Oh, am I supposed to have
this, this, and this? I don'thave any of that.' I remember
being in one of my classes andlooking at my peer mentor at the
time feeling like, 'Am Isupposed to have it fully
developed like that? I'm barelybeginning my time here at
(13:15):
Dominican. How much am I reallysupposed to have?' And so I
think for future instructors,just breaking it up can be
really helpful because I know inmy 'Navigating college' class,
we broke it up in differentsections. So we worked on my
about me in the beginning, andthen we worked about what pages
we wanted to create; justbreaking it up into chunks so it
doesn't feel as overwhelming inthe beginning can be really
beneficial, I think, and it canreally help pace students so
(13:38):
that way they don't feel 'Oh mygosh, this is just a burden.
This is just too much for me todo on top of all my school
work!' Breaking it up indifferent sections, like, 'You
can work on your class sectionshere, or you can work on your
volunteer section, or you caneven work on your clinical
section for our nursingstudents.' So it's just making
sure to make it more digestiblein the long run can be really
helpful for students.
Kristina Hoeppner (13:58):
What advice do you have for fellow students,
for at the portfolio authors?
KatieAnn Nguyen (14:03):
I would say, just have fun with it. I think
it's definitely a great way toexpress yourself. It can
definitely be an extension ofyour time here at Dominican, and
it's definitely a beneficialthing where you can treat it as
an artistic expression of yourtime here. It doesn't have to be
like, 'I did this, this andthis,' it can also be like,
'This is what I really enjoyed,'and it's a time to, like,
reflect and think back on allthe work you've done at
(14:25):
Dominican because you have putin so much work. You've gone out
and volunteered in thecommunity, you've gone out and
done your clinicals at thedifferent hospitals. You've done
so much, and this is your timeto showcase that work and to
take pride in having such abrilliant showcase because
you're able to then talk aboutit later on, and then show for
friends or even family or evenfuture career opportunities, and
be like 'This is what I didduring my four years of
(14:47):
undergrad.' And so this is atime for artistic expression.
This is a time for taking pridein what you're doing and then
also just showcasing how hardyou worked. Because honestly,
you do deserve to be proud ofit, and you do deserve to think
back and be like, 'This is whatI did,' and it's just a great
experience. And just take it howyou want it, and just have fun
with it because at the end ofthe day, this is your digital
(15:08):
portfolio. It doesn't matterwhat I might suggest or someone
else might suggest, it's how youmake of it. And with all things,
it's experience what you make ofit.
Kristina Hoeppner (15:16):
Thank you so much for these thoughts and
insights, KatieAnn to how youwork with portfolios on your
own, but also as a peer mentor,supporting other students here
at Dominican with the practiceand giving them a good start
into it as well, so that theyget into the practice of
reflecting and then alsohopefully taking it further into
their career and using it thenthere. Thank you so much.
KatieAnn Nguyen (15:39):
Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure to
meet with you and talk to youtoday.
Kristina Hoeppner (15:44):
Now over to our listeners. What do you want
to try with your own portfoliopractice? This was 'Create.
Share. Engage.' with KatieAnnNguyen. Head to our website,
podcast.mahara.org, where youcan find resources and the
transcript for this episode.
This podcast is produced byCatalyst IT, and I'm your host.
(16:07):
Kristina Hoeppner, Project Leadand Product Manager of the
portfolio platform Mahara. Ournext episode will air in two
weeks, and again, we will have amember of the Dominican
University of Californiacommunity talking about their
portfolio experience. I hopeyou'll listen again and tell a
colleague about our podcast sothey can subscribe. Until then,
(16:32):
create, share, and engage.
Welcome to 'Create. Share. Engage.' This is
the podcast about portfolios forlearning and more for educators,
learning designers, and managerskeen on integrating portfolios
with their education andprofessional development
practices. 'Create. Share.
Engage.' is brought to you bythe Mahara team at Catalyst IT.
My name is Kristina Hoeppner.
(00:25):
Today you'll hear my interviewwith KatieAnn Nguyen. KatieAnn
is a student at DominicanUniversity of California where I
visited in October 2024 as partof the first AAEEBL ePortfolio
Retreat. Christina Mayes, themanager of the Fletcher Jones
Digital Portfolio Lab atDominican and one of this year's
new AAEEBL Digital Ethics TaskForce members recommended I have
(00:46):
a chat with her. Welcome to thepodcast, KatieAnn!
KatieAnn Nguyen (00:49):
Thanks for having me.
Kristina Hoeppner (00:51):
Tell me a little bit about yourself. What
do you study?
KatieAnn Nguyen (00:53):
Right now I'm a Chemistry major, third year at
Dominican University ofCalifornia, and I have two
minors in Community Action andSocial Change, which is our
social justice minor here atDominican, as well as Global
Public Health, and I haveaspirations in the future to
apply to medical school and goon to become a pediatrician.
Kristina Hoeppner (01:10):
Fantastic.
That's quite the journey inhealth that you're having,
helping people and supportingthem throughout, and you're
already starting now withsupporting your students here on
campus. KatieAnn, when did youcreate your first portfolio,
please?
KatieAnn Nguyen (01:23):
I first began my digital portfolio in my
'Navigating college' class hereat Dominican. So at Dominican,
we have a class that we enrolfirst year students, and it's to
help students navigate incollege in this sense. So we
help them develop study habits,figure out how to register for a
class next semester, as well aspractice financial literacy, and
all these little things that younever really think about in your
first semester, other than like,'Oh, where am I gonna live? What
(01:46):
am I gonna bring?' We basicallyfocus on those little things.
One of the components ofDominican's curriculum is that
we develop a digital portfolio.
I was introduced to the topic inthis 'Navigating college' class
by two peer mentors, which iswhat I do now as a role here at
Dominican. We basically workwith students to develop this
digital portfolio, and I startedmy first year here, so my
freshman semester 1. So my firstsemester here at Dominican, I
(02:08):
actually began my digitalportfolio.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:12):
Is 'Navigating college' actually a
mandatory course or can youstill opt in?
KatieAnn Nguyen (02:17):
It's an opt-in course. We do encourage students
to participate in it justbecause we believe that it
brings students together, and italso connects them with
different topics that they mightnot think about when they're
first coming into or startingout at college in the first
place.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:31):
You just mentioned that you are now a
peer mentor yourself, so peopleyou encountered in your first
semester. How do you support thestudents in their creation of
portfolios?
KatieAnn Nguyen (02:40):
This year is a little different as a digital
portfolio mentor just because Iwork primarily with everyone's
digital portfolio. So I havedifferent meetings with them, I
talk them through makingaesthetics, figuring out what is
really important to them thatthey want to showcase on this
digital portfolio. Because atthe end of the day, I like to
emphasise that, 'Oh, a digitalportfolio, yes, it is for career
development, but it's also areflective piece, and it's how
(03:01):
you can look back at your timehere spent at Dominican. What
different experiences have youbeen a part of? What was really
meaningful during these fouryears at Dominican?' I like to
emphasise and work with them on,first, creating something that
they'll be really proud of goingback and looking back on, and
second, creating something thatthey can take with them as a
little artefact from their timehere at Dominican.
Kristina Hoeppner (03:20):
When you're working with your students, do
you have a sort of template thatyou give them or do you model
portfolio work them for them? Doyou use exemplars of what
students had done before?
KatieAnn Nguyen (03:30):
First, I like to showcase mine, and I like to
preface that it can be reallyoverwhelming just because I've
been working on my digitalportfolio for so many years. So
I like to preface that noteveryone's is going to look like
this at the beginning becauseagain, it is a showcase of your
four years here at Dominican. Soas you continue your time here,
it's obviously going to grow alittle bit more. You're going to
develop a little bit moreskills, a little bit more things
(03:50):
to strengthen your work here.
So I like to showcase mine, andmine talks about my work here as
a chemistry student. I do a lotof work in the lab, in the wet
lab, and I do a lot of hands-onresearch. So I showcase some of
that, my coursework andeverything. Depending on their
major, we do have some samplestudent showcases, and I like to
show them the differentexamples, too, so that they can
(04:11):
get the wide range of what isworking. What do I like from
this portfolio, and what do Ilike from this other portfolio,
and how can I combine that intosomething that I'll be really
proud of.
If it's a nursing student, wehave a couple of nursing majors,
then I like to showcase adifferent one, so that way they
can see a chemistry one, anursing, and then another
nursing. If it's education, Iknow they have very strict
guidelines, so we do have acouple education majors, too. So
(04:33):
I really like to emphasiseshowing instead of just telling
because it really demonstratesthese students, 'Oh, why is this
important?' And it really givesthem insight on how this can
come together as a whole.
Kristina Hoeppner (04:42):
And also see that every student creates their
portfolio differently. Onlybecause yours has lots of images
and then text next to it andlots of images again, somebody
else who might prefer torepresent themselves differently
can also do that.
KatieAnn Nguyen (04:57):
Yeah. A lot of it is, I guess, a lot stylistic.
That's something I hadn't reallyconsidered before. But yeah,
you're right. A lot of it is,'Oh, does someone want a lot of
images, or does someone want tohave it more wordy?' It just
depends on the person. I thinkit's a really great artefact and
a really great tool for studentsto have because it really
showcases them as a person, andthen it also showcases their
work here.
Kristina Hoeppner (05:17):
How many students do you then support
KatieAnn?
KatieAnn Nguyen (05:19):
Right now, I do support anyone who is willing to
come. We're in a time where nota lot of students are coming to
visit us just because a lot ofthem are stressed from midterms,
and we totally understand that.
Right now, I have a set ofaround 20 freshmen. These are
the students who are notenrolled in a digital portfolio
class. Instead, I reach out tothem about digital portfolio
work, I help them get startedbecause they're not involved in
the class that does help you getthose first steps started. So I
(05:42):
reach out to them. They'vescheduled a couple meetings with
me and my other partner becausewe split our mentees together.
It's around 20 between the twoof us.
In addition to that, anyone elsewho is recommended from the
'Navigating college' class tobook a session with some of our
digital portfolio mentors oranyone else who stumbles upon
us, I'm always open to helpinganyone, as long as it falls
(06:04):
within my availability.
Sometimes I come in and I don'thave any digital portfolio
working sessions, and sometimesI do. It just depends on the
week.
Kristina Hoeppner (06:10):
So you kind of have some office hours.
KatieAnn Nguyen (06:12):
Yeah, I do have office hours. I work in the
office here two hours a week fordigital portfolio and one hour
for the Student Success Center.
Kristina Hoeppner (06:19):
Do the students who create the
portfolios as part of the'Navigating college' class or
also the ones that here aresupporting who are not
participating in the classreceive any other support in
working on their portfolios.
KatieAnn Nguyen (06:31):
I'm part of a section of the Student Success
Center, so all of it is reallyincorporated. If you talk to any
integrative coach, they'll beable to talk about their
portfolio. And so all thesestudents are able to get support
from them. In addition,depending on your major, there
are some majors that have moreof an emphasis on digital
portfolio, and some of them whodon't have as much of an
emphasis, but they all help thatyou incorporate these different
(06:52):
aspects.
Before coming here, actually,someone was talking to me and
was like, 'Oh, can you come andspeak to the chemistry students
and the biology, kinesiologystudents because I'm doing a
workshop for digital portfolioI'm helping develop for first
year students. Can you come andpresent?' It's just like little
things like that whereprofessors are having people
come in and present there. Sobusiness majors, someone who is
recommended by a professor willgo and present their digital
(07:14):
portfolio for the businessmajors. And then, in my
instance, the STEM teacher cameand contacted me, just because I
have more of the STEM backgroundwith my digital portfolio.
Kristina Hoeppner (07:22):
The portfolio that I saw online that Christina
had sent through, is that youronly one or do you also have
other portfolios that are maybemore class based?
KatieAnn Nguyen (07:31):
That's my only portfolio. It's really based on
my entire time at Dominican. Itincorporates my class list, it
incorporates the differentactivities I've been in, some
internships as well. I justreally wanted it to portray
myself, not just as a student,but also, what do I do outside
of studying? What do I do todevelop myself as a person?
Kristina Hoeppner (07:49):
How often do you update it?
KatieAnn Nguyen (07:51):
It depends on where I'm showcasing it.
Kristina Hoeppner (07:55):
So you do actually adapt your portfolio.
You adjust it.
KatieAnn Nguyen (07:58):
I do adjust it, yeah. I adjusted it before the
summer. I've touched it a littlebit this semester. I haven't had
as much time. It does need alittle bit more updating, but I
try to at least regularly do itat least once a semester to
update my classes, add somecoursework, also add different
things I've been doing thatsemester because it's fresh in
my mind, I can just write itdown.
Kristina Hoeppner (08:20):
Where do see the benefits of creating
portfolios for your fellowstudents?
KatieAnn Nguyen (08:25):
I like to tell people who come to my sessions
that this digital portfolio isreally beneficial in career
development. And also I thinkit's nice to just have an
artefact of your time here,because in high school, I didn't
have this tool, and so ifsomeone were to ask me, 'What
did you do in high school?' Itwould just be like, 'I think I
took this class. I think I wentand volunteered here.' I don't
have a set thing where I canjust say, look back and review
(08:46):
what I've done.
What I like about the digitalportfolio is that since I'm
applying for med school laterdown the line, if I decide to
take a gap year, it's not goingto be as fresh in my mind. So
I'll be able to take thisresource and go back on it and
say, 'This is something I did inmy freshman year,' and this can
really help with my applicationdown the line. In addition to
students, I would say it's areally nice website to have also
(09:07):
applying to jobs because some ofmy jobs or internships that I've
applied to, they've asked, 'Oh,do you have a website?' And this
can definitely be a tool thatyou can put on it, and it can
show something a little bit morethan just what your résumé can
show because it goes a littlebit more in depth about your
class load, it shows your workexperience, anything else like
that. It dives deeper in yououtside of just being a student,
outside of just being a job. Itkind of combines all of you and
(09:29):
your career exploration as wellas your academic development. So
it's a really nice resource forboth your own personal growth,
your own personal reflection,and then also, if you do apply
for jobs, you can also add it asa supplement to your
application.
Kristina Hoeppner (09:43):
What would you have liked to know about the
portfolio when you started atDominican and had no idea since
you were not introduced it athigh school?
KatieAnn Nguyen (09:53):
I guess one of the things I would have wanted
to know was the emphasis onkeeping it regularly updated.
Because if I hadn't been a peermentor, I don't believe I would
have been as in depth with it asI am now, but being a peer
mentor has definitely pushed meto make sure that it's up to
date all the time. But if Ihadn't been as up to date, I
don't think I would have valuedthe resource of it as much. I
(10:17):
know what a couple students I'vetalked to, they're like, 'Oh,
what's a digital portfolio?' Or'will I really need this down
the line?' Working with thesestudents and seeing how much of
an impact it has had for me,especially because I like
looking back and being like,'This is what I did. It's like a
source of pride' knowing thatI'm able to create a website and
everything, that's a good skillto take with you to any job.
It's definitely something that Iwish I would have known in the
(10:39):
beginning, this is somethingreally important and something
that can be really useful in thelong run.
Kristina Hoeppner (10:45):
Are you showing your portfolio also to
your friends or to family, or isit just part of your
professional life?
KatieAnn Nguyen (10:51):
It depends, but sometimes I do show it to my
friends because they'll ask,'What was on your digital
portfolio?' Because they'll beworking on theirs, or they'll be
like, 'What did you take forthis semester?' And I can't
remember off the top of my head,so I'll pull it up, and they'll
be like, 'Oh, what is that?' AndI'll just talk a little bit more
in depth about it. I haven'tshown my family. Maybe that is
something I'll have to thinkabout in the future, but it is
(11:11):
definitely something I've talkedabout with my friends more on
the casual level, instead of,like, a professional level,
Kristina Hoeppner (11:16):
What would you like to be able to do with
portfolios that you currentlycan't?
KatieAnn Nguyen (11:20):
I think I would say I'm pretty content with how
the portfolio works for me. Ireally like how Dominican
emphasises it, and I like howthey walk us through the steps
of creation, and they talk alittle bit about why it's so
important in the long run. And Ithink just them having it as a
resource and having it that'ssomething that we have to create
during our time here isdefinitely more than I would
have anticipated. I do admit, atthe beginning I was a little
(11:43):
like 'It's just another thing tocreate,' but being in my third
year now, it's really nice tohave and just be able to
highlight, 'Oh yeah, I workedwith one of this volunteer
team,' and so I'm really contentwith how our programme is set
up, and the fact that we haveall these different digital
portfolio mentors in the DP Labjust to work with different
students?
Kristina Hoeppner (12:01):
From what I've heard so far, it's a
wonderful team, and you alsohave an amazing space upstairs
from where we are sitting rightnow, where you can get really
nice and comfortable. You alsohave this movable furniture so
that you can work in groups, butalso separately. Do you then
hold your sessions in thatDigital Portfolio Lab's room?
KatieAnn Nguyen (12:19):
I actually give the option between online or in
person. So a lot of my in personsessions are held in the Digital
Portfolio Lab, and if theDigital Portfolio Lab is taken
up for any reason, we just stayin the Student Success Center.
Kristina Hoeppner (12:31):
We're already at our last three questions,
KatieAnn, so the first one isfor you, which words or short
phrases do you use to describeportfolio work?
KatieAnn Nguyen (12:40):
Mine would be exploration, expressive, and
reflective.
Kristina Hoeppner (12:45):
Thank you for those. What tip do you have for
instructors or instructionaldesigners, learning designers
when they are creating portfolioactivities for students?
KatieAnn Nguyen (12:55):
I think it can be a really overwhelming task in
the beginning just because youlook at all these developed
digital portfolios, and you'relike, 'Oh, am I supposed to have
this, this, and this? I don'thave any of that.' I remember
being in one of my classes andlooking at my peer mentor at the
time feeling like, 'Am Isupposed to have it fully
developed like that? I'm barelybeginning my time here at
(13:15):
Dominican. How much am I reallysupposed to have?' And so I
think for future instructors,just breaking it up can be
really helpful because I know inmy 'Navigating college' class,
we broke it up in differentsections. So we worked on my
about me in the beginning, andthen we worked about what pages
we wanted to create; justbreaking it up into chunks so it
doesn't feel as overwhelming inthe beginning can be really
beneficial, I think, and it canreally help pace students so
(13:38):
that way they don't feel 'Oh mygosh, this is just a burden.
This is just too much for me todo on top of all my school
work!' Breaking it up indifferent sections, like, 'You
can work on your class sectionshere, or you can work on your
volunteer section, or you caneven work on your clinical
section for our nursingstudents.' So it's just making
sure to make it more digestiblein the long run can be really
helpful for students.
Kristina Hoeppner (13:58):
What advice do you have for fellow students,
for at the portfolio authors?
KatieAnn Nguyen (14:03):
I would say, just have fun with it. I think
it's definitely a great way toexpress yourself. It can
definitely be an extension ofyour time here at Dominican, and
it's definitely a beneficialthing where you can treat it as
an artistic expression of yourtime here. It doesn't have to be
like, 'I did this, this andthis,' it can also be like,
'This is what I really enjoyed,'and it's a time to, like,
reflect and think back on allthe work you've done at
(14:25):
Dominican because you have putin so much work. You've gone out
and volunteered in thecommunity, you've gone out and
done your clinicals at thedifferent hospitals. You've done
so much, and this is your timeto showcase that work and to
take pride in having such abrilliant showcase because
you're able to then talk aboutit later on, and then show for
friends or even family or evenfuture career opportunities, and
be like 'This is what I didduring my four years of
(14:47):
undergrad.' And so this is atime for artistic expression.
This is a time for taking pridein what you're doing and then
also just showcasing how hardyou worked. Because honestly,
you do deserve to be proud ofit, and you do deserve to think
back and be like, 'This is whatI did,' and it's just a great
experience. And just take it howyou want it, and just have fun
with it because at the end ofthe day, this is your digital
(15:08):
portfolio. It doesn't matterwhat I might suggest or someone
else might suggest, it's how youmake of it. And with all things,
it's experience what you make ofit.
Kristina Hoeppner (15:16):
Thank you so much for these thoughts and
insights, KatieAnn to how youwork with portfolios on your
own, but also as a peer mentor,supporting other students here
at Dominican with the practiceand giving them a good start
into it as well, so that theyget into the practice of
reflecting and then alsohopefully taking it further into
their career and using it thenthere. Thank you so much.
KatieAnn Nguyen (15:39):
Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure to
meet with you and talk to youtoday.
Kristina Hoeppner (15:44):
Now over to our listeners. What do you want
to try with your own portfoliopractice? This was 'Create.
Share. Engage.' with KatieAnnNguyen. Head to our website,
podcast.mahara.org, where youcan find resources and the
transcript for this episode.
This podcast is produced byCatalyst IT, and I'm your host.
(16:07):
Kristina Hoeppner, Project Leadand Product Manager of the
portfolio platform Mahara. Ournext episode will air in two
weeks, and again, we will have amember of the Dominican
University of Californiacommunity talking about their
portfolio experience. I hopeyou'll listen again and tell a
colleague about our podcast sothey can subscribe. Until then,
(16:32):
create, share, and engage.
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