March 11, 2025 • 31 mins
Matthew E. Mueller, CRC, MA, MBA, is the Director of Accessibility and Disability Services at Dominican University of California where he's also finished his MBA in December 2024. He's also one of the integrative coaches of the Student Success Center.
In this episode, Matthew talks about how all of his roles at Dominican contribute to him being able to support students holistically, coach them, and provide services to them that help them navigate college successfully. He also shares a bit about his own portfolio journey.
This episode is the fifth and last interview with portfolio authors from Dominican University of California whom I was privileged to meet in preparation for the first AAEEBL ePortfolio Retreat that was held at Dominican on 18 October 2024.
Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn
Resources
- Matthew's portfolio and his Dominican web page
- 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
- Naomi Elvolve, MA, Executive Director of the Student Success Center, Integrative Coach
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
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
- KatieAnn Nguyen: Showcase your achievements in a portfolio and be proud of them
- Arturo Flores, Jr.: The portfolio is a reflection of yourself
Related episodes
- Kate Mitchell: Deliberate and programmatic design
- Mark Glynn: Take a programmatic approach to assessment with portfolios
- Kevin Kelly & Kristina Hoeppner: Digital ethics principles and UDL guidelines
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.
(00:26):
Today I'm speaking with MatthewMueller who works at and is a
student at Dominican Universityof California. We are recording
this interview mid-October 2024because I'm visiting the
university for the first AAEEBLePortfolio Retreat. Christina
Mayes, the Manager of theFletcher Jones Digital Portfolio
Lab, roped Matthew into thisinterview, probably also because
(00:49):
one of his hobbies ispodcasting. So this interview
concludes the excursion toDominican where we've already
heard from a number of students.
Now at the end, I have thechance to speak with Matthew,
who is heavily involved in theportfolio work on campus. So
let's dive in.
Thank you so much, Matthew, formaking time on such short
notice.
Matthew Mueller (01:09):
Yeah, of course. I'm glad to be here.
Kristina Hoeppner (01:10):
Usually, I ask what your role is at the
university, but in your case,you actually have so many
different roles. So what do youdo here at Dominican?
Matthew Mueller (01:19):
My primary role is I'm the Director of
Accessibility and DisabilityServices (ADS). That means I
work with students, I work withfaculty and support the entire
university around disability,accessibility accommodations to
ensure that students aresupported, that faculty know how
to support those students, andthat we're all kind of working
well together to create aninclusive, accessible learning
(01:41):
environment.
My other role, I'm anintegrative coach, part of the
integrative coaching teamthrough the Student Success
Center here at Dominican, and inthat role, I do a lot of
one-to-one work with students tosupport them as holistically as
possible to support theiracademic goals, their personal
goals, their career goals, andanything else in between that
(02:01):
might come up.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:02):
How many students are actually at
Dominican?
Matthew Mueller (02:04):
So including undergraduate and graduate
students, I believe it's about1,850 students.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:11):
That's a really nice-sized campus, and
you've got a beautiful campuswith lots of greenery around
here.
Matthew Mueller (02:16):
Yeah, it's an absolutely gorgeous place to
work. And yeah, it's agood-sized school. I've worked
at generally smalleruniversities and colleges across
the United States, and so when Iwas looking for a role outside
of New York, where I'moriginally from, I saw
Dominican, the beautiful campus,but the student body size, I
definitely thought this was agood fit for me.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:37):
With how many students do you then work on a
regular basis because you saidyou're the Director of
Accessibility Services. How manyare your regular clientèle?
Matthew Mueller (02:47):
There are approximately 200 students who
are registered withAccessibility and Disability
Services, and so that means thatthey work with myself or another
ADS coach who happen to also beintegrative coaches, and we
support them with accommodationsand other sorts of supports. My
particular case load, I justchecked yesterday actually, it's
(03:07):
about 81 students.
Kristina Hoeppner (03:09):
That's quite a lot of different students to
always keep in mind what theyneed and how best to support
them.
Matthew Mueller (03:16):
Yeah, absolutely. It's having to be
agile, every day is always goingto be a little bit different.
You never know what type ofemail you're going to get in
your inbox or who's going toknock on your door and working
on both solving problems andcrises that might come up, but
also being able to just havereally nice, meaningful
conversations with students,whoever might want to get some
support or talk with you thatday.
Kristina Hoeppner (03:38):
What do you do as integrative coach?
Matthew Mueller (03:40):
So integrative coaching is a programme that my
supervisor, Naomi Elvolve, whenshe arrived at Dominican over a
decade ago, she wanted to bringthis coaching programme. So it's
a holistic type of coachingwhere we do work with students
to support them in literallyevery aspect of their life,
integrative really, bringing tomind, like holistic sort of
(04:01):
coaching. And so I tell studentsthat we are life coaches, we're
academic coaches, we're careercoaches. I have a background in
executive function coaching, andso it really is whatever a
student might need support with,we can help problem solve,
provide strategies and tools,just be a sounding board for
students, connect them toresources and things like that.
Kristina Hoeppner (04:20):
That is fantastic because there you
really look at them, as yousaid, holistically, rather than
putting them into pigeon-holes,but can work with them as a
person.
Matthew Mueller (04:28):
Yeah, absolutely, and so it really is
such an amazing part of my job,just being able to have a
student come in who might bedealing with something
academically, struggling toprepare for an exam, but then
from that, we talk about theirpersonal goals and their
strengths and areas wherethey're not so strong and how to
support them and just reallymeaningful because students will
(04:49):
share when they feel likethere's an ear that is ready to
listen.
Kristina Hoeppner (04:52):
How does then your role as Director for
Accessibility and DisabilityServices match up with your role
as integrative coach?
Matthew Mueller (05:01):
I would say that they work hand in hand,
right? So my role as a Directorof Accessibility and Disability
Services that is the primaryrole that I have where I'm
really handling a lot of theadministrative and logistic and
procedural aspects ofaccommodations, of ensuring that
students have the supports thatthey need. If there's a student
(05:21):
who needs American Sign Languageinterpreting or alternative
print for their textbooks orexam accommodations, handling a
lot of that work to make surethat things run smoothly here,
but at the end of the day, itreally all comes back to that
coaching mindset of there's astudent and they need supports,
and some of those supports canbe a tool like an accommodation,
(05:42):
extended time on exams, or beingable to have a note taker in one
of their classes. But beyondthat because accommodations are
just tools helping students toexplore how to use that tool
well and how to imagine othertypes of supports and resources
that can complement a lot ofthat work that we do just in
ADS, I really think more bigpicture about what this means as
(06:03):
a student in along theiracademic journey.
Kristina Hoeppner (06:07):
That's fantastic to give students so
many support options, to alsoshow them what they can do in
the future, when there might notbe such services available any
more to them in the workplaceand develop strategies and ideas
around how to master their dailylives.
Matthew Mueller (06:23):
It really is a developmental process, right? Of
really thinking about where theyare today, where have they come
from, and where ultimately arethey going? And how can we
scaffold some things, and howcan we work with them to give
them tools in their tool kitthat won't just help them during
their four years at Dominican,but throughout the rest of their
lives?
Kristina Hoeppner (06:40):
One of the tools is actually why we are
talking today [Yes], and that isthe portfolio because you
created a portfolio yourself.
Was that your first one thatyou've created?
Matthew Mueller (06:52):
Yes, so I've never taken the time, you know,
I have a LinkedIn profile andthings like that, but obviously,
the digital portfolio is a bitmore expansive, and it's
distinct from that LinkedInprofile. This is, yeah, the
first experience that I've hadwith really sitting down and
thinking, how can I put myselfon the screen like that?
Kristina Hoeppner (07:09):
Why did you create it?
Matthew Mueller (07:11):
I work closely with Christina. She's a champion
of digital portfolios, and sheshowcases how and why it is high
impact activity to have studentsdo. And so I do teach
'Navigating college', which is afirst-year experience course,
and I've done that for fouryears now. And when I share the
idea of this is what a digitalportfolio is when Christina
comes in to talk with them aboutit, it's good, I think, to have
(07:35):
my own to not just say, 'Oh, youneed to do this because you're a
student, but this actually issomething that is valuable, that
there's so many benefits thatyou can get from even just
creating it, right? The idea ofit being reflective and
creative, and just anopportunity for you to create
and control your own narrative,that this is who I am, is how I
want to present myself to theworld, that way.' And so I
(07:55):
wanted to do that because Ithink it is something that can
be a nice artefact for studentsto hold on to, but also you
learn a lot about yourself doingit.
Kristina Hoeppner (08:04):
I learned another thing about you. You are
also an MBA student. Do thegraduate students also have to
create portfolios? Or is thatmore something that is
encouraged for undergrads?
Matthew Mueller (08:14):
So that's a good question. So in the MBA
programme, it's not necessarilysomething that is so highly
focused on recognising, I think,a lot of us are folks in our
middle of our careers, and sothat's not something that I've
experienced much in the MBAprogramme, but I do know that
there are other graduateprogrammes that do engage in the
digital portfolio work, Ibelieve. Occupational Therapy,
(08:35):
the Applied Sports andPerformance Psychology programme
does, and so there are a lot ofgraduate programmes that do
that, and I think Christina iscontinuing to wave that flag and
say that this is somethingthat's important. So we're
continuing to see momentumtowards this being actually
something that is not just anundergraduate thing, but
something for all students here.
Kristina Hoeppner (08:53):
Especially also looking at the type of
portfolios that are created herethat are all public facing, at
least the ones that I've ofcourse, seen so far where you
really nicely complement thatLinkedIn profile or that regular
CV or résumé that you would bewriting so that there's a bit
more about yourself displayedthere.
Matthew Mueller (09:12):
I took the activity of creating the digital
portfolio as a way to thinkabout if someone else was going
to look at this, which I hopethey do, what would be nice for
them to know, right? And sohaving my CV there, which is, I
guess, always a nice thing forfolks to know, but also taking
an opportunity to include aLinkedIn profile or include a
link to my GitHub, where I'vebeen learning Python in one of
(09:34):
my MBA classes. And so having anopportunity for it to be more
than just what someone might seeon my résumé or CV or on a cover
letter and really being able toshowcase that I'm a whole person
and not just the words on myapplication.
Kristina Hoeppner (09:47):
Exactly, Yeah. Then Matthew, how do you
support students in theirportfolio work?
Matthew Mueller (09:53):
In 'Navigating college', we do a lot of...
Kristina Hoeppner (09:56):
That's a first-year course, right?
Matthew Mueller (09:57):
Correct. Yeah.
So not all first years, but Iwould say probably eight out of
10 first-year students will takethe 'Navigating college' course.
In that course, we not onlyintroduce the idea of a digital
portfolio, but we also set thegroundwork for that by helping
students to think about who theyare, where are they today, what
are they engaged in, where theycome from, and where are they
going, helping to create athread between all those things.
(10:20):
And so using the digitalportfolio is a really useful
tool and platform for us toexplore interests and skills and
identity and experiences. And sothrough the course of a
semester, we'll touch on anumber of those topics, and then
throughout the course of theirwork in the digital portfolios,
they'll be able to showcase thata little bit more. So that's, I
(10:41):
would say, a primary way that Ido that. But I would also say,
just in my individual work withstudents as an integrative
coach, every experience that wehave, my hope is, is that we are
helping students to developawareness, develop new skills,
new strategies, helping them tobetter articulate and understand
who they are as a student, andso through that, being able to
(11:02):
then have that awareness thatthey can then put into the
digital portfolio in that way aswell.
Kristina Hoeppner (11:08):
Do you also then make it clear to them that
some of the experiences theyhave with you or with other
services on campus that theyshould reflect on them a bit
more and put them into theportfolio because some students
that are new to the practicemight not realise, even though
they work in a quite holisticenvironment here, that they
(11:28):
might want to put that intowriting a bit or making a
recording of it and reflectingon that experience?
Matthew Mueller (11:35):
That is something that I've been slowly
trying to integrate more. Ithink with coaching, there is
this big reflective piece of notjust okay, we did something
great, but in the moment, howdoes that feel? And also the
next time I see them, what thatlooked like in their life. And
so really asking them to thinkabout what is new for them,
what's changed for them, howhave they grown? Because I think
(11:58):
that story in their digitalportfolio is a really powerful
one. I started here, and this iswhere I ended up. And so through
coaching, being able to helpfacilitate those conversations
with themselves and then thescreen a little bit more.
Kristina Hoeppner (12:11):
Do you then also have specific questions
that you typically ask yourstudents to help them reflect?
Matthew Mueller (12:17):
Yes, probably just asking them to reflect on
what the process was like toshare their story with me that
day. Often, I feel reallyprivileged to get the
opportunity because the work Ido in Accessibility and
Disability Services, I'm askingstudents to share very personal
things. In a way, I say to them,"you probably don't share this
(12:39):
with anyone except your doctorsand maybe some friends and
family, but you just met metoday, and I want you to be very
open and vulnerable in someways, and to share that." And so
through those conversations, Ido ask them to reflect just "how
does it feel to articulate thesethings, and what is it like for
you to share these pieces ofyou?" And as we're talking,
"what is it that you might belearning or better understanding
(13:02):
about yourself through this" Wetalk about strengths and how you
can leverage your strengths tohelp you in areas that you're
not so strong and so reallyhelping them to think about and
process through what we'retalking about, to make it feel
like they're not just having aregular old conversation, but it
is something that really is partof the journey that they're on.
Kristina Hoeppner (13:23):
That is wonderful, and I've seen that in
some of the portfolios thatChristina had shared, that the
students very openly also talkabout why they've come to
Dominican, or what theirbackground was, how they are
fitting in here, and really,from what I can see in the
writing, are very comfortable aspeople and also comfortable as
members of the community here.
Matthew Mueller (13:45):
Yeah, I think that just speaks to Christina's
framing of the digital portfolioas, in some ways, a journal and
in some ways an opportunity tointerrogate those intersecting
identities and the stories thatstudents come with and
connecting all of those dotstogether of what's not just a
portfolio where, 'oh, I have allthese experiences that are
(14:08):
disconnected,' but what is,again, that thread, and what is
the link? And often it is thestudents who are the thing that
connects all those piecestogether. So helping students to
look to understand not just whatthey've done, but who they are
and who they're becoming throughthose experiences. Christina,
again, is doing such amazingwork to make that a central
piece to the process.
Kristina Hoeppner (14:29):
I think it's though also a testament to you
as integrative coaches andeverybody who's involved in
especially that first yearcourse, but then also the peer
mentors to bring that vision tolife. Because it can't just be
one person on campus who doesall of that. It is everybody
standing behind the idea andseeing that it is something that
helps both students, but alsothe instructors, when the
(14:52):
students can reflect on and canbring all of those practices
also into other classes.
Matthew Mueller (14:57):
Yeah, absolutely, and so I think there
is a lot of modelling of thosetypes of practices, of being
very open to sharing ourexperiences and being open to
engaging with students. When weask a student, "how are you" not
just to accept, "oh, good, howare you?" But really to have
Dominican be a space wherestudents can be their whole
(15:18):
selves and to understand allthose different pieces, and so
having people who are not justcomfortable, but are encouraging
of students doing that sort ofexploring. I think it's through
our integrative coachingprogramme and through our
amazing peer mentors, the workthat they do of creating that
community where thoseconversations are happening
consistently.
Kristina Hoeppner (15:39):
You use reflection quite a bit in your
coaching practice. Are thereelements from your work in
Accessibility and DisabilityServices that influence how you
teach the portfolio or how yourepresent the ideas of a
portfolio?
Matthew Mueller (15:55):
Yeah, that's a really good question. I think,
as I've been reflecting on that[laughs] again, reflection,
within accessibility anddisability within universities,
we really try to push this ideaof a universal design for
learning that not all studentsengage most regularly with
reading and writing only, right,and that you can share
information more than just bytext on a page. Through UDL,
(16:19):
Universal Design for Learning,thinking about how can we share
information multimodally? Thedigital portfolio, I think, is
A lot of our students, andmyself included, we created our
perfect for that.
portfolios using Google Sites.
With that you can importdocuments, you can upload videos
and images, and so helpingstudents to think about how
their portfolios don't have tojust be paragraphs of them
(16:42):
writing reflections and thingslike that, that they can be
creative in how they share thatinformation, how they want to
put themselves on the screen. Ithink that is something that I
think is central to the workthat I do with students.
In 'Navigating college' we dopresentations about a part of
their portfolio, and a lot oftimes, early on, students will
(17:05):
just share a lot of informationin textual form, which I think
is very useful from like aarticulating and reflection
place, but not leaving it atthat and really thinking,
helping students to think, isthere a new or novel way to
share that information through aYouTube video that they create
or through a series of imagesthat might reflect things more
than just what is on a screen.
And so I would say that'sprobably one of the benefits
(17:28):
from having the lens that I do,of really wanting students to
engage creatively, recognisingthat words can only tell you so
much, I suppose, right, apicture is worth 1,000 of them.
I've worked with students withdyslexia. They might not
immediately be drawn to the ideaof having to write out a whole
bunch of things, but throughtheir digital portfolio, they're
(17:51):
able to really showcasethemselves by putting pictures
of their art or them engage inthe community or them on a
sports team. And so that can bea showcase for more than what
you can just type out at any onetime. I would say that's
probably one of the big thingsthat my ADS perspective lends
itself to of really embracingthe idea that you've got a whole
(18:12):
canvas that you can work with,and you've got lots of ways to
putting things on there.
Kristina Hoeppner (18:15):
It's great that you mention UDL because we
shouldn't just design with onegroup of people in mind, but
make it possible for everybodyto engage. Often it is also said
that not every student whoactually would need an
accommodation goes to a servicelike yours because that is also
already a vulnerability for themto expose, 'well, actually I do
(18:37):
need help.' Whereas if throughUDL, the classes are already
designed in a way that anaccommodation might not even be
necessary because they canprovide text in different
formats or hand in assignmentsin different ways, then that
makes it much more equityrelated.
Matthew Mueller (18:54):
Yeah, absolutely. We've done for many
years series of professionaldevelopment on Universal Design
for Learning and helping facultyto just reimagine what their
courses could look like, what anassignment could look like, how
students can engage differentlyand meaningfully, maybe even
more so than if they're justwriting a paper, but how they
can think outside the box inthose ways. I do think that
(19:17):
there is a lot of really goodwork that we're doing here. I
think it definitely connects toall the work we're doing around
digital portfolio as well.
Kristina Hoeppner (19:25):
It's good to bring everything together there.
For how long have you then beenusing portfolios now?
Matthew Mueller (19:29):
Have my own portfolio [Mhh]? So I've had it
for about a year, and I'vereally - since Christina had
asked me to do this episode withyou, I really worked to update
some things and bring in somenew pieces to it. So but about a
year where I've really had myown as opposed to just pieces. I
think when I first got here fouryears ago, I created a site and
(19:51):
left it there for a while anddidn't really engage to it. I
don't know, maybe I just neededthe spark. I'm not sure.
Kristina Hoeppner (19:56):
It's all about sparks tomorrow as well at
our spark talks then. SoMatthew, is there now that
you've taught portfolios tostudents, you have created your
own, you are now gone the secondportfolio of yours, left one
behind, is there anything thatyou can't just yet really do
with portfolios, but you'd wishto be able to?
Matthew Mueller (20:14):
I think we've got a lot of momentum and work
towards building a really robustdigital portfolio programme. I
think that there are some waysthat we could help students to
better understand what they cando with their portfolio once
they have it, that there is apiece of turning this into more
(20:34):
than just some schoolassignment, but into a way that
their portfolio can be livingand breathing just like they
are. And so in what ways doesyour portfolio support you to
graduate college? In what waydoes it help you to find that
job? And what can you do? Or howcan you transform the work that
you've been doing in yourportfolio after you graduate? Or
(20:55):
maybe you don't continue to putthings on Google Sites.
What does that look like in yourfuture to continue to be
reflective and creative andwanting to connect all of the
new experiences that you haveinto your life? It's the 'what
next' or the 'what now' that Ithink there's still some
important room to grow to helpstudents to recognise that this
(21:17):
is not just a high impactactivity because we say it is,
but because there actually are alot of tangible benefits to that
type of thinking aboutourselves, our lives, and where
we want to go.
Kristina Hoeppner (21:28):
Then it might be good to bring back some of
your alumni, for example, SolenaOrnelas, whom I interviewed, and
have them talk about theirportfolio experiences post
Dominican, whether they areusing it for job search.
Matthew Mueller (21:42):
Again, not having a Google Site that you
continue to update, but maybethat turns into just having a
journal or having a blog orhaving other ways that you can
share your ideas and to makeconnections between the things
that you're doing and how toshowcase that to other people as
I do like the idea of havingalumni come back because I think
well.
(22:04):
students really respond to that,of seeing models or even success
stories of what that could looklike. I think when it comes to
digital portfolio, making thatfeel more alive, that certainly
feels really valuable.
Kristina Hoeppner (22:17):
And as you say, not make it look like this
is just an assignment I do infirst year, and then after that,
maybe I don't continue with it,but weaving it throughout the
entire study programme and alsoshowing the benefits for beyond
that.
Matthew Mueller (22:29):
Absolutely, I think one piece that I wish even
in my MBA programme, you know,we're taking all these classes
that are in some way sequential,and you're growing from each one
to the next. And it's the samething with Nursing. It's the
same thing with PoliticalScience or Occupational Therapy
or whatever it is, but helpingstudents to see the growth from
(22:49):
one class to the next, I think,is something that as we're
reflecting on some new ways toapproach this, integrating it
and interweaving it in, I think,having faculty partner in that
way to be helping to facilitatethat type of reflection from
course to course, week to week,or even saying, 'hey, that
assignment that you just did wasgreat. You should add that to
(23:10):
your digital portfolio' becausethat speaks volumes about your
analytical skills or your hardwork or your ability to do
research or teamwork orpresentations or whatever it
might be.
Kristina Hoeppner (23:22):
Coming back a bit to that scaffolding that, at
least in the beginning,sometimes you just need that
extra nudge to realise, 'oh yes,I have learned something there,
and this is something that Iwant to capture.'
Matthew Mueller (23:33):
Yeah, absolutely. It's funny actually,
in our integrative coachingmeetings that we have weekly,
where we do a lot of checking inabout things, but also a lot of
professional development, we'vebeen talking about how our role
as coaches is to help studentsrecognise that they do have
skills. Often, a student willsay, 'Oh, yeah, I just did the
thing.' But actually, no, thereare a number of discrete skills
(23:56):
that they had to use in order todo that. And so helping them to
put a name to those things, thembeing able to then showcase that
in some way on their portfolioor to help to make some of those
connections with them, yeah, Ithink that is really, really
essential.
Kristina Hoeppner (24:10):
Yeah, because something that is normal for one
student might be somethingcompletely extraordinary for
another...
Matthew Mueller (24:16):
Absolutely.
Kristina Hoeppner (24:16):
... so can't take that for a given.
Matthew Mueller (24:18):
Yeah, and I think for the students that we
work with, a lot of them arefirst generation students, and
so they don't necessarily havethat experience of what it looks
like to be a 'college student',right? And so a lot of them,
they're learning this as theygo, and so having us as touch
points, and having their facultythere to support them well to
help them to recognise that thework that they're doing is
(24:42):
developmental, that it is themgrowing in these good and
amazing ways and helping them torecognise what those skills and
ways in which that they'reengaging is actually helping
them to grow in these new andexciting ways.
Kristina Hoeppner (24:57):
Matthew, now the last three questions for
you, which words or shortphrases do you use to describe
portfolio work?
Matthew Mueller (25:05):
I think I've been using this word a lot, and
so it almost feels a littleunfair to use it again, but,
yeah, I think 'reflective', youknow, is that first thing. But I
think it's more than justreflection. It's 'critical
thinking'. It's really'introspection'. It's a skill to
look inward that is an importantpiece to this. It also is
'creative' thinking about how toshare your story in a way that
(25:27):
makes sense to you, but also canmake sense to other people. And
then maybe it's related tocreativity, but I think there is
a piece of like 'thinkingoutside the box', of being
comfortable with doing thingsdifferently and thinking
differently about yourself andabout how you share. I think,
yeah, those are probably thethree I would use.
Kristina Hoeppner (25:47):
Oh, I've heard five.
Matthew Mueller (25:48):
Okay [laughs].
Kristina Hoeppner (25:48):
so which is fantastic, and you can have
five. I'm perfectly fine withthat.
Matthew Mueller (25:52):
Thank you.
Kristina Hoeppner (25:53):
So I've heard reflection, critical thinking,
introspection, creativity, andthe last one was
Matthew Mueller (26:01):
Thinking outside the box.
Kristina Hoeppner (26:01):
[speak at the same time] Thinking, of course,
thinking outside the box. Happyto take on these five. They are
fantastic and work really welltogether and also in what you
do, what you want to do with thestudents, and how you support
them in their learning. What tipdo you have for other educators,
be that learning designers orinstructors, or maybe even other
(26:22):
integrative coaches?
Matthew Mueller (26:23):
Yeah, I would say that digital portfolios is a
different medium and differentplatform than I think a lot of
students are used to. Maybethese days, I think with
students with social media andthey-re content creators on the
side and things like that, thatmaybe that's a little bit more
intuitive for them. But I dothink this piece of unlocking
that creativity and that way ofthinking about yourself and how
(26:47):
you want to present yourself tothe world, I think is an
important thing that we shouldall just keep in mind, like how
do we help students to thinkabout themselves?
And I would say, related to thatis helping students connect the
dots of their life. In mygraduate programme, this my
second master's, but my firstone is in Rehabilitation
Counselling, and I took a careercounselling class, and we did
(27:08):
this activity called a careerconstellation where we took
different experiences that wehave to connect the dots to
create a constellation of ourcareers, right? Exactly right.
Kristina Hoeppner (27:18):
For the recording, we are both looking
up at a ceiling where there arestars on it.
Matthew Mueller (27:22):
So that idea of 'Navigating college', I'll do an
activity similar to that, wherewe create a education
constellation or a personalconstellation of some sort of
what were the books, who werethe people, what were the
experiences that you've had inyour life, and what is the story
that you tell that connects allof those together? I think that
is also really important becausea portfolio should have some
(27:45):
sort of theme or should somesort of thesis, almost, of this
is who you are, and these arethe ways that I'm going to show
that off. And so I think that isan important thing that if I was
going to give some advice orrecommendations, those are two
things that I would say havebeen important to the work of
that I've done with the studentsthat I've worked with.
Kristina Hoeppner (28:01):
What I'm hearing is also bring it down to
what people can understand orhave a metaphor, have an analogy
that they connect with in orderto understand more easily what
they're doing.
Matthew Mueller (28:11):
Absolutely, people understand metaphors and
analogies, and it's a thoughtfulway to take a big idea and to
break it down into those smallpieces because then, connecting
it back to accessibility,everyone will understand,
regardless of how they'reentering in.
Kristina Hoeppner (28:26):
Yeah, now we are coming to the last question
for today, and that is, what tipor advice do you have for
portfolio authors, for yourstudents, or maybe even fellow
faculty members, right? It's notjust students who can create
portfolios.
Matthew Mueller (28:39):
They're for everyone. Often we'll have our
peer mentors sharing theirportfolios, and these are, you
know, juniors and seniors whohave all these experiences, and
they have a clear sense of wherethey're going and where they're
going to be. And I think there'svalue in that modeling, and you
can be inspired by that. But Ithink often students are like,
'Oh, I'll never be like that.
I'll never have all thoseskills.'
(28:59):
So I think there is this sort ofopenness that I think a digital
portfolio author needs to haveof recognising that you're not
finished and that's okay, andthat the process of creating a
portfolio is constructing yourlife in some way and of building
things and that you can see yourportfolio and say, 'Oh, it's not
very good,' but, well, maybe itis for right now. But what do
(29:22):
you think is missing? And sobeing okay with knowing that you
still have work to do, that youstill have skills and
experiences to build and to haveand that your portfolio will
never be done, even after yougraduate, you're still going to
have some way of showcasing allthe amazing things that you've
done in your life and that youcan start now to take this as a
(29:42):
way of being intentional withhow you want to develop and grow
as a person.
Kristina Hoeppner (29:46):
And also because your life still
continues
Matthew Mueller (29:48):
Exactly right [laughs].
Kristina Hoeppner (29:49):
Ideally, you'll be a lifelong learner and
continue developing new skillsor gaining new competencies.
Matthew Mueller (29:54):
Absolutely, that's what we hope for.
Kristina Hoeppner (29:56):
Yeah. Thank you so very much, Matthew for
this chat. It was wonderfulhearing more about what you do
as integrative codes and alsohow you connect that to your
other role of being the Directorfor the Accessibility and
Disability Services as well asbeing a student here. So lastly,
also all the best for the sprinttowards the end of your MBA.
(30:18):
Now over toour listeners. What do you want
Matthew Mueller (30:18):
Thank you.
to try in your own portfoliopractice? This was 'Create.
Share. Engage.' with MatthewMueller. His interview concludes
our mini series with studentsand staff from Dominican
University of California. Atsome point, I will need to
(30:39):
invite Christina Mayes, who hasbeen mentioned on all five
episodes, to the podcast toshare her views on the digital
portfolio initiative atDominican. But before that, head
to our website,podcast.mahara.org, where you
can find resources and thetranscript for this episode.
(30:59):
This podcast is produced byCatalyst IT, and I'm your host,
Kristina Hoeppner, Project Leadand Product Manager of the
portfolio platform Mahara. Ournext episode will air in two
weeks. I hope you'll listenagain and tell a colleague about
our podcast so they cansubscribe. Until then create,
(31:21):
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.
(00:26):
Today I'm speaking with MatthewMueller who works at and is a
student at Dominican Universityof California. We are recording
this interview mid-October 2024because I'm visiting the
university for the first AAEEBLePortfolio Retreat. Christina
Mayes, the Manager of theFletcher Jones Digital Portfolio
Lab, roped Matthew into thisinterview, probably also because
(00:49):
one of his hobbies ispodcasting. So this interview
concludes the excursion toDominican where we've already
heard from a number of students.
Now at the end, I have thechance to speak with Matthew,
who is heavily involved in theportfolio work on campus. So
let's dive in.
Thank you so much, Matthew, formaking time on such short
notice.
Matthew Mueller (01:09):
Yeah, of course. I'm glad to be here.
Kristina Hoeppner (01:10):
Usually, I ask what your role is at the
university, but in your case,you actually have so many
different roles. So what do youdo here at Dominican?
Matthew Mueller (01:19):
My primary role is I'm the Director of
Accessibility and DisabilityServices (ADS). That means I
work with students, I work withfaculty and support the entire
university around disability,accessibility accommodations to
ensure that students aresupported, that faculty know how
to support those students, andthat we're all kind of working
well together to create aninclusive, accessible learning
(01:41):
environment.
My other role, I'm anintegrative coach, part of the
integrative coaching teamthrough the Student Success
Center here at Dominican, and inthat role, I do a lot of
one-to-one work with students tosupport them as holistically as
possible to support theiracademic goals, their personal
goals, their career goals, andanything else in between that
(02:01):
might come up.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:02):
How many students are actually at
Dominican?
Matthew Mueller (02:04):
So including undergraduate and graduate
students, I believe it's about1,850 students.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:11):
That's a really nice-sized campus, and
you've got a beautiful campuswith lots of greenery around
here.
Matthew Mueller (02:16):
Yeah, it's an absolutely gorgeous place to
work. And yeah, it's agood-sized school. I've worked
at generally smalleruniversities and colleges across
the United States, and so when Iwas looking for a role outside
of New York, where I'moriginally from, I saw
Dominican, the beautiful campus,but the student body size, I
definitely thought this was agood fit for me.
Kristina Hoeppner (02:37):
With how many students do you then work on a
regular basis because you saidyou're the Director of
Accessibility Services. How manyare your regular clientèle?
Matthew Mueller (02:47):
There are approximately 200 students who
are registered withAccessibility and Disability
Services, and so that means thatthey work with myself or another
ADS coach who happen to also beintegrative coaches, and we
support them with accommodationsand other sorts of supports. My
particular case load, I justchecked yesterday actually, it's
(03:07):
about 81 students.
Kristina Hoeppner (03:09):
That's quite a lot of different students to
always keep in mind what theyneed and how best to support
them.
Matthew Mueller (03:16):
Yeah, absolutely. It's having to be
agile, every day is always goingto be a little bit different.
You never know what type ofemail you're going to get in
your inbox or who's going toknock on your door and working
on both solving problems andcrises that might come up, but
also being able to just havereally nice, meaningful
conversations with students,whoever might want to get some
support or talk with you thatday.
Kristina Hoeppner (03:38):
What do you do as integrative coach?
Matthew Mueller (03:40):
So integrative coaching is a programme that my
supervisor, Naomi Elvolve, whenshe arrived at Dominican over a
decade ago, she wanted to bringthis coaching programme. So it's
a holistic type of coachingwhere we do work with students
to support them in literallyevery aspect of their life,
integrative really, bringing tomind, like holistic sort of
(04:01):
coaching. And so I tell studentsthat we are life coaches, we're
academic coaches, we're careercoaches. I have a background in
executive function coaching, andso it really is whatever a
student might need support with,we can help problem solve,
provide strategies and tools,just be a sounding board for
students, connect them toresources and things like that.
Kristina Hoeppner (04:20):
That is fantastic because there you
really look at them, as yousaid, holistically, rather than
putting them into pigeon-holes,but can work with them as a
person.
Matthew Mueller (04:28):
Yeah, absolutely, and so it really is
such an amazing part of my job,just being able to have a
student come in who might bedealing with something
academically, struggling toprepare for an exam, but then
from that, we talk about theirpersonal goals and their
strengths and areas wherethey're not so strong and how to
support them and just reallymeaningful because students will
(04:49):
share when they feel likethere's an ear that is ready to
listen.
Kristina Hoeppner (04:52):
How does then your role as Director for
Accessibility and DisabilityServices match up with your role
as integrative coach?
Matthew Mueller (05:01):
I would say that they work hand in hand,
right? So my role as a Directorof Accessibility and Disability
Services that is the primaryrole that I have where I'm
really handling a lot of theadministrative and logistic and
procedural aspects ofaccommodations, of ensuring that
students have the supports thatthey need. If there's a student
(05:21):
who needs American Sign Languageinterpreting or alternative
print for their textbooks orexam accommodations, handling a
lot of that work to make surethat things run smoothly here,
but at the end of the day, itreally all comes back to that
coaching mindset of there's astudent and they need supports,
and some of those supports canbe a tool like an accommodation,
(05:42):
extended time on exams, or beingable to have a note taker in one
of their classes. But beyondthat because accommodations are
just tools helping students toexplore how to use that tool
well and how to imagine othertypes of supports and resources
that can complement a lot ofthat work that we do just in
ADS, I really think more bigpicture about what this means as
(06:03):
a student in along theiracademic journey.
Kristina Hoeppner (06:07):
That's fantastic to give students so
many support options, to alsoshow them what they can do in
the future, when there might notbe such services available any
more to them in the workplaceand develop strategies and ideas
around how to master their dailylives.
Matthew Mueller (06:23):
It really is a developmental process, right? Of
really thinking about where theyare today, where have they come
from, and where ultimately arethey going? And how can we
scaffold some things, and howcan we work with them to give
them tools in their tool kitthat won't just help them during
their four years at Dominican,but throughout the rest of their
lives?
Kristina Hoeppner (06:40):
One of the tools is actually why we are
talking today [Yes], and that isthe portfolio because you
created a portfolio yourself.
Was that your first one thatyou've created?
Matthew Mueller (06:52):
Yes, so I've never taken the time, you know,
I have a LinkedIn profile andthings like that, but obviously,
the digital portfolio is a bitmore expansive, and it's
distinct from that LinkedInprofile. This is, yeah, the
first experience that I've hadwith really sitting down and
thinking, how can I put myselfon the screen like that?
Kristina Hoeppner (07:09):
Why did you create it?
Matthew Mueller (07:11):
I work closely with Christina. She's a champion
of digital portfolios, and sheshowcases how and why it is high
impact activity to have studentsdo. And so I do teach
'Navigating college', which is afirst-year experience course,
and I've done that for fouryears now. And when I share the
idea of this is what a digitalportfolio is when Christina
comes in to talk with them aboutit, it's good, I think, to have
(07:35):
my own to not just say, 'Oh, youneed to do this because you're a
student, but this actually issomething that is valuable, that
there's so many benefits thatyou can get from even just
creating it, right? The idea ofit being reflective and
creative, and just anopportunity for you to create
and control your own narrative,that this is who I am, is how I
want to present myself to theworld, that way.' And so I
(07:55):
wanted to do that because Ithink it is something that can
be a nice artefact for studentsto hold on to, but also you
learn a lot about yourself doingit.
Kristina Hoeppner (08:04):
I learned another thing about you. You are
also an MBA student. Do thegraduate students also have to
create portfolios? Or is thatmore something that is
encouraged for undergrads?
Matthew Mueller (08:14):
So that's a good question. So in the MBA
programme, it's not necessarilysomething that is so highly
focused on recognising, I think,a lot of us are folks in our
middle of our careers, and sothat's not something that I've
experienced much in the MBAprogramme, but I do know that
there are other graduateprogrammes that do engage in the
digital portfolio work, Ibelieve. Occupational Therapy,
(08:35):
the Applied Sports andPerformance Psychology programme
does, and so there are a lot ofgraduate programmes that do
that, and I think Christina iscontinuing to wave that flag and
say that this is somethingthat's important. So we're
continuing to see momentumtowards this being actually
something that is not just anundergraduate thing, but
something for all students here.
Kristina Hoeppner (08:53):
Especially also looking at the type of
portfolios that are created herethat are all public facing, at
least the ones that I've ofcourse, seen so far where you
really nicely complement thatLinkedIn profile or that regular
CV or résumé that you would bewriting so that there's a bit
more about yourself displayedthere.
Matthew Mueller (09:12):
I took the activity of creating the digital
portfolio as a way to thinkabout if someone else was going
to look at this, which I hopethey do, what would be nice for
them to know, right? And sohaving my CV there, which is, I
guess, always a nice thing forfolks to know, but also taking
an opportunity to include aLinkedIn profile or include a
link to my GitHub, where I'vebeen learning Python in one of
(09:34):
my MBA classes. And so having anopportunity for it to be more
than just what someone might seeon my résumé or CV or on a cover
letter and really being able toshowcase that I'm a whole person
and not just the words on myapplication.
Kristina Hoeppner (09:47):
Exactly, Yeah. Then Matthew, how do you
support students in theirportfolio work?
Matthew Mueller (09:53):
In 'Navigating college', we do a lot of...
Kristina Hoeppner (09:56):
That's a first-year course, right?
Matthew Mueller (09:57):
Correct. Yeah.
So not all first years, but Iwould say probably eight out of
10 first-year students will takethe 'Navigating college' course.
In that course, we not onlyintroduce the idea of a digital
portfolio, but we also set thegroundwork for that by helping
students to think about who theyare, where are they today, what
are they engaged in, where theycome from, and where are they
going, helping to create athread between all those things.
(10:20):
And so using the digitalportfolio is a really useful
tool and platform for us toexplore interests and skills and
identity and experiences. And sothrough the course of a
semester, we'll touch on anumber of those topics, and then
throughout the course of theirwork in the digital portfolios,
they'll be able to showcase thata little bit more. So that's, I
(10:41):
would say, a primary way that Ido that. But I would also say,
just in my individual work withstudents as an integrative
coach, every experience that wehave, my hope is, is that we are
helping students to developawareness, develop new skills,
new strategies, helping them tobetter articulate and understand
who they are as a student, andso through that, being able to
(11:02):
then have that awareness thatthey can then put into the
digital portfolio in that way aswell.
Kristina Hoeppner (11:08):
Do you also then make it clear to them that
some of the experiences theyhave with you or with other
services on campus that theyshould reflect on them a bit
more and put them into theportfolio because some students
that are new to the practicemight not realise, even though
they work in a quite holisticenvironment here, that they
(11:28):
might want to put that intowriting a bit or making a
recording of it and reflectingon that experience?
Matthew Mueller (11:35):
That is something that I've been slowly
trying to integrate more. Ithink with coaching, there is
this big reflective piece of notjust okay, we did something
great, but in the moment, howdoes that feel? And also the
next time I see them, what thatlooked like in their life. And
so really asking them to thinkabout what is new for them,
what's changed for them, howhave they grown? Because I think
(11:58):
that story in their digitalportfolio is a really powerful
one. I started here, and this iswhere I ended up. And so through
coaching, being able to helpfacilitate those conversations
with themselves and then thescreen a little bit more.
Kristina Hoeppner (12:11):
Do you then also have specific questions
that you typically ask yourstudents to help them reflect?
Matthew Mueller (12:17):
Yes, probably just asking them to reflect on
what the process was like toshare their story with me that
day. Often, I feel reallyprivileged to get the
opportunity because the work Ido in Accessibility and
Disability Services, I'm askingstudents to share very personal
things. In a way, I say to them,"you probably don't share this
(12:39):
with anyone except your doctorsand maybe some friends and
family, but you just met metoday, and I want you to be very
open and vulnerable in someways, and to share that." And so
through those conversations, Ido ask them to reflect just "how
does it feel to articulate thesethings, and what is it like for
you to share these pieces ofyou?" And as we're talking,
"what is it that you might belearning or better understanding
(13:02):
about yourself through this" Wetalk about strengths and how you
can leverage your strengths tohelp you in areas that you're
not so strong and so reallyhelping them to think about and
process through what we'retalking about, to make it feel
like they're not just having aregular old conversation, but it
is something that really is partof the journey that they're on.
Kristina Hoeppner (13:23):
That is wonderful, and I've seen that in
some of the portfolios thatChristina had shared, that the
students very openly also talkabout why they've come to
Dominican, or what theirbackground was, how they are
fitting in here, and really,from what I can see in the
writing, are very comfortable aspeople and also comfortable as
members of the community here.
Matthew Mueller (13:45):
Yeah, I think that just speaks to Christina's
framing of the digital portfolioas, in some ways, a journal and
in some ways an opportunity tointerrogate those intersecting
identities and the stories thatstudents come with and
connecting all of those dotstogether of what's not just a
portfolio where, 'oh, I have allthese experiences that are
(14:08):
disconnected,' but what is,again, that thread, and what is
the link? And often it is thestudents who are the thing that
connects all those piecestogether. So helping students to
look to understand not just whatthey've done, but who they are
and who they're becoming throughthose experiences. Christina,
again, is doing such amazingwork to make that a central
piece to the process.
Kristina Hoeppner (14:29):
I think it's though also a testament to you
as integrative coaches andeverybody who's involved in
especially that first yearcourse, but then also the peer
mentors to bring that vision tolife. Because it can't just be
one person on campus who doesall of that. It is everybody
standing behind the idea andseeing that it is something that
helps both students, but alsothe instructors, when the
(14:52):
students can reflect on and canbring all of those practices
also into other classes.
Matthew Mueller (14:57):
Yeah, absolutely, and so I think there
is a lot of modelling of thosetypes of practices, of being
very open to sharing ourexperiences and being open to
engaging with students. When weask a student, "how are you" not
just to accept, "oh, good, howare you?" But really to have
Dominican be a space wherestudents can be their whole
(15:18):
selves and to understand allthose different pieces, and so
having people who are not justcomfortable, but are encouraging
of students doing that sort ofexploring. I think it's through
our integrative coachingprogramme and through our
amazing peer mentors, the workthat they do of creating that
community where thoseconversations are happening
consistently.
Kristina Hoeppner (15:39):
You use reflection quite a bit in your
coaching practice. Are thereelements from your work in
Accessibility and DisabilityServices that influence how you
teach the portfolio or how yourepresent the ideas of a
portfolio?
Matthew Mueller (15:55):
Yeah, that's a really good question. I think,
as I've been reflecting on that[laughs] again, reflection,
within accessibility anddisability within universities,
we really try to push this ideaof a universal design for
learning that not all studentsengage most regularly with
reading and writing only, right,and that you can share
information more than just bytext on a page. Through UDL,
(16:19):
Universal Design for Learning,thinking about how can we share
information multimodally? Thedigital portfolio, I think, is
A lot of our students, andmyself included, we created our
perfect for that.
portfolios using Google Sites.
With that you can importdocuments, you can upload videos
and images, and so helpingstudents to think about how
their portfolios don't have tojust be paragraphs of them
(16:42):
writing reflections and thingslike that, that they can be
creative in how they share thatinformation, how they want to
put themselves on the screen. Ithink that is something that I
think is central to the workthat I do with students.
In 'Navigating college' we dopresentations about a part of
their portfolio, and a lot oftimes, early on, students will
(17:05):
just share a lot of informationin textual form, which I think
is very useful from like aarticulating and reflection
place, but not leaving it atthat and really thinking,
helping students to think, isthere a new or novel way to
share that information through aYouTube video that they create
or through a series of imagesthat might reflect things more
than just what is on a screen.
And so I would say that'sprobably one of the benefits
(17:28):
from having the lens that I do,of really wanting students to
engage creatively, recognisingthat words can only tell you so
much, I suppose, right, apicture is worth 1,000 of them.
I've worked with students withdyslexia. They might not
immediately be drawn to the ideaof having to write out a whole
bunch of things, but throughtheir digital portfolio, they're
(17:51):
able to really showcasethemselves by putting pictures
of their art or them engage inthe community or them on a
sports team. And so that can bea showcase for more than what
you can just type out at any onetime. I would say that's
probably one of the big thingsthat my ADS perspective lends
itself to of really embracingthe idea that you've got a whole
(18:12):
canvas that you can work with,and you've got lots of ways to
putting things on there.
Kristina Hoeppner (18:15):
It's great that you mention UDL because we
shouldn't just design with onegroup of people in mind, but
make it possible for everybodyto engage. Often it is also said
that not every student whoactually would need an
accommodation goes to a servicelike yours because that is also
already a vulnerability for themto expose, 'well, actually I do
(18:37):
need help.' Whereas if throughUDL, the classes are already
designed in a way that anaccommodation might not even be
necessary because they canprovide text in different
formats or hand in assignmentsin different ways, then that
makes it much more equityrelated.
Matthew Mueller (18:54):
Yeah, absolutely. We've done for many
years series of professionaldevelopment on Universal Design
for Learning and helping facultyto just reimagine what their
courses could look like, what anassignment could look like, how
students can engage differentlyand meaningfully, maybe even
more so than if they're justwriting a paper, but how they
can think outside the box inthose ways. I do think that
(19:17):
there is a lot of really goodwork that we're doing here. I
think it definitely connects toall the work we're doing around
digital portfolio as well.
Kristina Hoeppner (19:25):
It's good to bring everything together there.
For how long have you then beenusing portfolios now?
Matthew Mueller (19:29):
Have my own portfolio [Mhh]? So I've had it
for about a year, and I'vereally - since Christina had
asked me to do this episode withyou, I really worked to update
some things and bring in somenew pieces to it. So but about a
year where I've really had myown as opposed to just pieces. I
think when I first got here fouryears ago, I created a site and
(19:51):
left it there for a while anddidn't really engage to it. I
don't know, maybe I just neededthe spark. I'm not sure.
Kristina Hoeppner (19:56):
It's all about sparks tomorrow as well at
our spark talks then. SoMatthew, is there now that
you've taught portfolios tostudents, you have created your
own, you are now gone the secondportfolio of yours, left one
behind, is there anything thatyou can't just yet really do
with portfolios, but you'd wishto be able to?
Matthew Mueller (20:14):
I think we've got a lot of momentum and work
towards building a really robustdigital portfolio programme. I
think that there are some waysthat we could help students to
better understand what they cando with their portfolio once
they have it, that there is apiece of turning this into more
(20:34):
than just some schoolassignment, but into a way that
their portfolio can be livingand breathing just like they
are. And so in what ways doesyour portfolio support you to
graduate college? In what waydoes it help you to find that
job? And what can you do? Or howcan you transform the work that
you've been doing in yourportfolio after you graduate? Or
(20:55):
maybe you don't continue to putthings on Google Sites.
What does that look like in yourfuture to continue to be
reflective and creative andwanting to connect all of the
new experiences that you haveinto your life? It's the 'what
next' or the 'what now' that Ithink there's still some
important room to grow to helpstudents to recognise that this
(21:17):
is not just a high impactactivity because we say it is,
but because there actually are alot of tangible benefits to that
type of thinking aboutourselves, our lives, and where
we want to go.
Kristina Hoeppner (21:28):
Then it might be good to bring back some of
your alumni, for example, SolenaOrnelas, whom I interviewed, and
have them talk about theirportfolio experiences post
Dominican, whether they areusing it for job search.
Matthew Mueller (21:42):
Again, not having a Google Site that you
continue to update, but maybethat turns into just having a
journal or having a blog orhaving other ways that you can
share your ideas and to makeconnections between the things
that you're doing and how toshowcase that to other people as
I do like the idea of havingalumni come back because I think
well.
(22:04):
students really respond to that,of seeing models or even success
stories of what that could looklike. I think when it comes to
digital portfolio, making thatfeel more alive, that certainly
feels really valuable.
Kristina Hoeppner (22:17):
And as you say, not make it look like this
is just an assignment I do infirst year, and then after that,
maybe I don't continue with it,but weaving it throughout the
entire study programme and alsoshowing the benefits for beyond
that.
Matthew Mueller (22:29):
Absolutely, I think one piece that I wish even
in my MBA programme, you know,we're taking all these classes
that are in some way sequential,and you're growing from each one
to the next. And it's the samething with Nursing. It's the
same thing with PoliticalScience or Occupational Therapy
or whatever it is, but helpingstudents to see the growth from
(22:49):
one class to the next, I think,is something that as we're
reflecting on some new ways toapproach this, integrating it
and interweaving it in, I think,having faculty partner in that
way to be helping to facilitatethat type of reflection from
course to course, week to week,or even saying, 'hey, that
assignment that you just did wasgreat. You should add that to
(23:10):
your digital portfolio' becausethat speaks volumes about your
analytical skills or your hardwork or your ability to do
research or teamwork orpresentations or whatever it
might be.
Kristina Hoeppner (23:22):
Coming back a bit to that scaffolding that, at
least in the beginning,sometimes you just need that
extra nudge to realise, 'oh yes,I have learned something there,
and this is something that Iwant to capture.'
Matthew Mueller (23:33):
Yeah, absolutely. It's funny actually,
in our integrative coachingmeetings that we have weekly,
where we do a lot of checking inabout things, but also a lot of
professional development, we'vebeen talking about how our role
as coaches is to help studentsrecognise that they do have
skills. Often, a student willsay, 'Oh, yeah, I just did the
thing.' But actually, no, thereare a number of discrete skills
(23:56):
that they had to use in order todo that. And so helping them to
put a name to those things, thembeing able to then showcase that
in some way on their portfolioor to help to make some of those
connections with them, yeah, Ithink that is really, really
essential.
Kristina Hoeppner (24:10):
Yeah, because something that is normal for one
student might be somethingcompletely extraordinary for
another...
Matthew Mueller (24:16):
Absolutely.
Kristina Hoeppner (24:16):
... so can't take that for a given.
Matthew Mueller (24:18):
Yeah, and I think for the students that we
work with, a lot of them arefirst generation students, and
so they don't necessarily havethat experience of what it looks
like to be a 'college student',right? And so a lot of them,
they're learning this as theygo, and so having us as touch
points, and having their facultythere to support them well to
help them to recognise that thework that they're doing is
(24:42):
developmental, that it is themgrowing in these good and
amazing ways and helping them torecognise what those skills and
ways in which that they'reengaging is actually helping
them to grow in these new andexciting ways.
Kristina Hoeppner (24:57):
Matthew, now the last three questions for
you, which words or shortphrases do you use to describe
portfolio work?
Matthew Mueller (25:05):
I think I've been using this word a lot, and
so it almost feels a littleunfair to use it again, but,
yeah, I think 'reflective', youknow, is that first thing. But I
think it's more than justreflection. It's 'critical
thinking'. It's really'introspection'. It's a skill to
look inward that is an importantpiece to this. It also is
'creative' thinking about how toshare your story in a way that
(25:27):
makes sense to you, but also canmake sense to other people. And
then maybe it's related tocreativity, but I think there is
a piece of like 'thinkingoutside the box', of being
comfortable with doing thingsdifferently and thinking
differently about yourself andabout how you share. I think,
yeah, those are probably thethree I would use.
Kristina Hoeppner (25:47):
Oh, I've heard five.
Matthew Mueller (25:48):
Okay [laughs].
Kristina Hoeppner (25:48):
so which is fantastic, and you can have
five. I'm perfectly fine withthat.
Matthew Mueller (25:52):
Thank you.
Kristina Hoeppner (25:53):
So I've heard reflection, critical thinking,
introspection, creativity, andthe last one was
Matthew Mueller (26:01):
Thinking outside the box.
Kristina Hoeppner (26:01):
[speak at the same time] Thinking, of course,
thinking outside the box. Happyto take on these five. They are
fantastic and work really welltogether and also in what you
do, what you want to do with thestudents, and how you support
them in their learning. What tipdo you have for other educators,
be that learning designers orinstructors, or maybe even other
(26:22):
integrative coaches?
Matthew Mueller (26:23):
Yeah, I would say that digital portfolios is a
different medium and differentplatform than I think a lot of
students are used to. Maybethese days, I think with
students with social media andthey-re content creators on the
side and things like that, thatmaybe that's a little bit more
intuitive for them. But I dothink this piece of unlocking
that creativity and that way ofthinking about yourself and how
(26:47):
you want to present yourself tothe world, I think is an
important thing that we shouldall just keep in mind, like how
do we help students to thinkabout themselves?
And I would say, related to thatis helping students connect the
dots of their life. In mygraduate programme, this my
second master's, but my firstone is in Rehabilitation
Counselling, and I took a careercounselling class, and we did
(27:08):
this activity called a careerconstellation where we took
different experiences that wehave to connect the dots to
create a constellation of ourcareers, right? Exactly right.
Kristina Hoeppner (27:18):
For the recording, we are both looking
up at a ceiling where there arestars on it.
Matthew Mueller (27:22):
So that idea of 'Navigating college', I'll do an
activity similar to that, wherewe create a education
constellation or a personalconstellation of some sort of
what were the books, who werethe people, what were the
experiences that you've had inyour life, and what is the story
that you tell that connects allof those together? I think that
is also really important becausea portfolio should have some
(27:45):
sort of theme or should somesort of thesis, almost, of this
is who you are, and these arethe ways that I'm going to show
that off. And so I think that isan important thing that if I was
going to give some advice orrecommendations, those are two
things that I would say havebeen important to the work of
that I've done with the studentsthat I've worked with.
Kristina Hoeppner (28:01):
What I'm hearing is also bring it down to
what people can understand orhave a metaphor, have an analogy
that they connect with in orderto understand more easily what
they're doing.
Matthew Mueller (28:11):
Absolutely, people understand metaphors and
analogies, and it's a thoughtfulway to take a big idea and to
break it down into those smallpieces because then, connecting
it back to accessibility,everyone will understand,
regardless of how they'reentering in.
Kristina Hoeppner (28:26):
Yeah, now we are coming to the last question
for today, and that is, what tipor advice do you have for
portfolio authors, for yourstudents, or maybe even fellow
faculty members, right? It's notjust students who can create
portfolios.
Matthew Mueller (28:39):
They're for everyone. Often we'll have our
peer mentors sharing theirportfolios, and these are, you
know, juniors and seniors whohave all these experiences, and
they have a clear sense of wherethey're going and where they're
going to be. And I think there'svalue in that modeling, and you
can be inspired by that. But Ithink often students are like,
'Oh, I'll never be like that.
I'll never have all thoseskills.'
(28:59):
So I think there is this sort ofopenness that I think a digital
portfolio author needs to haveof recognising that you're not
finished and that's okay, andthat the process of creating a
portfolio is constructing yourlife in some way and of building
things and that you can see yourportfolio and say, 'Oh, it's not
very good,' but, well, maybe itis for right now. But what do
(29:22):
you think is missing? And sobeing okay with knowing that you
still have work to do, that youstill have skills and
experiences to build and to haveand that your portfolio will
never be done, even after yougraduate, you're still going to
have some way of showcasing allthe amazing things that you've
done in your life and that youcan start now to take this as a
(29:42):
way of being intentional withhow you want to develop and grow
as a person.
Kristina Hoeppner (29:46):
And also because your life still
continues
Matthew Mueller (29:48):
Exactly right [laughs].
Kristina Hoeppner (29:49):
Ideally, you'll be a lifelong learner and
continue developing new skillsor gaining new competencies.
Matthew Mueller (29:54):
Absolutely, that's what we hope for.
Kristina Hoeppner (29:56):
Yeah. Thank you so very much, Matthew for
this chat. It was wonderfulhearing more about what you do
as integrative codes and alsohow you connect that to your
other role of being the Directorfor the Accessibility and
Disability Services as well asbeing a student here. So lastly,
also all the best for the sprinttowards the end of your MBA.
(30:18):
Now over toour listeners. What do you want
Matthew Mueller (30:18):
Thank you.
to try in your own portfoliopractice? This was 'Create.
Share. Engage.' with MatthewMueller. His interview concludes
our mini series with studentsand staff from Dominican
University of California. Atsome point, I will need to
(30:39):
invite Christina Mayes, who hasbeen mentioned on all five
episodes, to the podcast toshare her views on the digital
portfolio initiative atDominican. But before that, head
to our website,podcast.mahara.org, where you
can find resources and thetranscript for this episode.
(30:59):
This podcast is produced byCatalyst IT, and I'm your host,
Kristina Hoeppner, Project Leadand Product Manager of the
portfolio platform Mahara. Ournext episode will air in two
weeks. I hope you'll listenagain and tell a colleague about
our podcast so they cansubscribe. Until then create,
(31:21):
share, and engage.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.