Some thoughts on portfolios over the last 15 years

Dr Lindsay Richardson is the Educational Technology Manager in the Teaching and Learning Services Department at Carleton University. She is also an Adjunct Professor and Contract Instructor in the Department of Psychology at the university.Lindsay has been using portfolios in large introductory psychology courses with 200 to 450 students. Students create 'success portfolios' which they also grade themselves based on a rubric. In this interview, Lindsay talks about why she introduced portfolios into her courses and how she is navigating the use of generative AI.ResourcesDr Lindsay Richardson and Dr Ashley Thompson's podcast 'Agile Ed': Exploring learner-centred education fuelled by curiosity and critical thinkingStudents as Partners ProgrammecuPortfolio, Carleton University's instance of MaharaUngrading and alternative assessments, a resource from York UniversityRelated episode: Cathy Elliott: Have fun, be flexible, and encourage feedback in your portfolioSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

In this episode, Mahara project lead Kristina Hoeppner, MA, takes a brief look back at 15 years on the Mahara team at Catalyst IT. She pulls out a few instances of portfolio use. This is only a tiny selection and by no means a full representation of what is happening in the portfolio community as you can see from the many stories that we share on this podcast.ResourcesLearning management system MoodleMoodleMoot Global 2025Library management system KohaKohaCon 2025Bret Eynon, Laura Gambino (2018): Catalyst in action: Case studies of High-Impact ePortfolio practiceRecording of Mahara Hui Online on 10 June 2025 on the Mahara YouTube channelMorgan Gresham, Megan, Mize, Sarah Zurhellen (2023). High-impact practices and third spaces: Connecting across disciplines. Across the Disciplines, 20(3–4), 157–176.AAEEBL Digital Ethics Task Force and Digital Ethics in ePortfolios principlesAAEEBL YouTube channelePortfolios Australia and upcoming Eportfolio ForumChris Cormack (2025): Data sovereignty in Aotearoa: Navigating how to protect our digital taongaPresentation 'Portfolios: Integral to your programmatic assessment approach'Janine Quiding, Miriam Laidlaw, Tabitha Parker, Kristina Hoeppner (2020): Portfolios come full circle in the world of workJanine Quiding, Miriam Laidlaw, Tabitha Parker (2022): PDRP at WaitematāRelated episodesAndrea Ghoneim: Learn transversal skills through portfoliosLisa Donaldson: From 0 to 6,000 in six weeksChristina Stollner & Romy Hösl: Portfolio support for educators and learnersDiKuLe: Planning and decision making guide for portfoliosChahira Nouira: Use a portfolio to give students space and time to reflectMahara 25.04 and how a feature makes it into MaharaSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Cordula Schwiderski, MA, Hannah Brodel, MA, Martina Osterrieder, and Dr Martin Sticht work at Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg in Germany. Hannah, Martina, and Martin are members of the DiKuLe project, and Cordula works in the eFolio team, which was established through the project.DiKuLe - Digitale Kulturen der Lehre entwickeln (develop digital cultures in academic teaching) is a project funded by Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre.The part of the project the four are involved in looks at improving portfolio practices. To do that, they have created a planning and decision making guide as one output of the project. This guide combines the technical and learning design aspects necessary for successfully planning, preparing, and implementing portfolios in academic courses.Connect withCordulaHannahMartinaMartinDiKuLe on LinkedInResourcesPlanungs- und Entscheidungshilfe zum Einsatz von E-Portfolios in der Lehre (incl. editable file)Planning and decision making guide for the use of ePortfolios in academic teachingDiKuLe SymposiumOnline workshop 'Strategic course design with ePortfolios: A practical guide' with Hannah Brodel and Martina OsterriederBiggs, J. (1996). Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. In Higher Education 32, S. 347–364.eFolio offering at the University of BambergRelated episodesChristina Stollner & Romy Hösl: Portfolio support for educators and learnersMargarete Imhof, Franziska Ohl, Sebastian Laube: Feedback as driver for learning with portfoliosSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Christina Stollner, MA, and Romy Hösl, MA, work at Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Amberg-Weiden (OTH Amberg-Weiden) in Bavaria in Germany. There they are members of the 'Dreiklang' project, which aims to make it easier for lecturers and students to work with portfolios by offering a triad of support: theory, communication, and examples for the direct application of portfolios in various contexts in higher education.The resources they have already created and that they will continue to create until the end of their project, are all available under the Creative Commons license BY 4.0.Projekt Dreiklang is funded by Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre and contributes to the improvements in using portfolios in Germany in higher education.Connect withChristina on LinkedInRomy on LinkedInResourcesProjekt DreiklangOTH's Master's programme in Educational TechnologySign-up for free access to the starter kit (some information is in English)Reflection bot RiffRecordings of the AAEEBL AI webinar series, including recording 'Supporting reflection through an AI powered reflection bot'AISOP projectRelated episodesDr Leticia Britos Cavagnaro: Make learning visibleProf Dr Paul Libbrecht and Prof Dr Wolfgang Müller: Support your portfolio learning with AISubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Professor Dr Michael Sankey from Charles Darwin University in Australia has been involved in the ePortfolio practice for more than 25 years. He started out writing HTML pages, then used various portfolio platforms throughout his university career, and transitioned to a non-institution owned site now that he is retired.In this conversation Michael emphasises the role of the portfolio to support emerging professionals. He advocates for institution-operated portfolio platforms to provide a space where employers looking at student portfolios can be assured that they are dealing with real students. Michael also makes the case for programmatic assessment as the next evolution in assessment and the key role that the portfolio plays in it.Connect with MichaelLinkedInBlueskyInstagramResourcesMichael's websiteePortfolios AustraliaKeynote at the Eportfolio Forum 2024: 'Making visible the "human" side of learning and celebrating one’s achievements through ePortfolio practiceUniversity of Sydney's two-lane approach to artificial intelligence in assessment tasksWhat to do about assessments if we can’t out-design or out-run AI?Program level assessment design and the two-lane approachArtificial intelligence and academic integrity: A conversation between Prof Dr Danny Liu and Prof Dr Stephen MarshallCentre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University; resources on programmatic assessment:Nieminen, J. H., & Boud, D. (2024). Placing authenticity at the heart of student self-assessment: an integrative review. Teaching in Higher Education, 30(3), 640–662.Tree, D., Harvey, A., & Rand-Weaver, M. (2025) Integrated Programme Assessment: 10 years on. (2025). Open Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 4(1).CRADLE Seminar Series 2025 #1: Programmatic Assessment. Insights from Theory and Practice with Dr Liesbeth BaartmanRelated episodesKate Mitchell: Deliberate and programmatic designMark Glynn: Take a programmatic approach to assessment with portfoliosSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

In this episode, podcast host Kristina Hoeppner, MA, who is the Mahara Project Lead and Product Manager, shares how a feature makes into the application, using a couple of recent examples from Mahara 25.04 that will be released by the end of April 2025.Mahara 25.04 will have a number of great new features available that enhance portfolio practice and also help teaching and support staff in their roles.Connect with KristinaLinkedInMastodonSend a message via the Mahara community websiteResourcesTree swing storyCartoonHistory of the cartoonOrigin of the CPD pluginWireframes as result of the usability reviewMock-ups for Mahara 26.04Mahara roadmapAnnouncement of the Mahara 25.04 previewPresentation 'Who creates open source software?'Upcoming Mahara eventsEvents by AAEEBLRecording of the 'New features in Mahara 25.04' webinarRelated episodesMonash UniversityDr Ingrid D'Souza: Creativity and lifelong portfoliosAssoc Prof Dr Zala Volcic: Develop community, relationships, and compassionJamie Robinson, MEd: Portfolio boot camp for educatorsProgrammatic design and assessmentKate Mitchell, MEd: Deliberate and programmatic designDr Mark Glynn, PFHEA: Take a programmatic approach to assessment with portfoliosSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Prof Dr Margarete Imhof, Franziska Ohl, MSc, and Sebastian Laube, MSc work in the Institute for Psychology, and there specifically in the Department of Psychology in Education at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz in Germany. They are members of the feedback portfolio project, supporting lecturers and students in their department with the creation of portfolios.Franziska, Margarete, and Sebastian are strong believers in portfolios and how they can empower students in becoming reflective practitioners, engage meaningfully in feedback processes, and ultimately be good teachers. In this episode, in particular, they talk about their feedback practices, the use of templates, and how collaboration amongst students and also with lecturers can be scaffolded.Connect withFranziska via her university pageMargarete via her university pageSebastian via his university pageResourcesSebastian's video series on MaharaSebastian's current templateAAEEBL Digital Ethics Principle in ePortfolios: SupportMetaphors in portfolio practice: Coleman, K.S. (2017). An a/r/tist in wonderland: Exploring identity, creativity and digital portfolios as a/r/tographer, Ph.D. dissertation, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Australia, 2017.Mahara roadmapAAC&U's High-Impact PracticesOhl, F., Laube, S., Imhof, M. &  Harring, M. (2022). Portfolioarbeit und Feedbackkultur gemeinsam entwickeln. In M. Krämer, J. Zumbach & I. Deibl (Eds.), Psychologiedidaktik und Evaluation XIV (pp. 337-343). Düren: Shaker. Laube, S., Ohl, F., Harring, M., Imhof, M. (2023). Das digitale Feedback-Portfolio. In L. Mrohs, J. Franz, D. Herrmann, K. Lindner & T. Staake (Eds.), Digitale Kulturen der Lehre entwickeln. Perspektiven der Hochschuldidaktik (pp. 301- 307). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.Related episodesShari Bowker: Establish good feedback practices in your portfolio The wunderkammer: Metaphors in portfolio practiceSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Chahira Nouira, MSc, is an instructional designer at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen in Germany where she supports lecturers in their use of educational technology and how to incorporate them into their teaching and learning activities.In this episode, Chahira talks about the support that the instructional design team offers to lecturers, in particular the initiative 'Get[IN]spired' that also fosters connections between lecturers. She then talks about which study programmes use portfolios, including theology, musicology, and forest sciences. Learn how the portfolio delivers benefits to students in them.Special thanks from Chahira to Natalia Lischer, MA, and Dipl-Ing Christian Fliegner from the Digital Learning and Teaching team at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, whose efforts to support all the university's teaching staff with portfolio work have been remarkable and continue to be very crucial.Connect with ChahiraLinkedInMastodonResourcesInitiative 'Get[IN]spired'The eLearning service team at Georg-August-Universität GöttingenRelated episodesJamie Fulcher: Portfolio boot camp for educatorsMark Brady: Journal regularly for profound insightSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

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 LinkedInResourcesMatthew's portfolio and his Dominican web pageThe Dominican Experience, of which the portfolio work is partDigital portfolio support at DominicanChristina Mayes, MS, Manager of the Fletcher Jones Digital Portfolio LabNaomi Elvolve, MA, Executive Director of the Student Success Center, Integrative CoachUniversal Design for Learning (UDL)Related Dominican University of California episodes: Solena Ornelas: Set goals and achieve them with a portfolioStarlight (José) Lain-Straus: The portfolio as impactful practice for studentsKatieAnn Nguyen: Showcase your achievements in a portfolio and be proud of themArturo Flores, Jr.: The portfolio is a reflection of yourselfRelated episodesKate Mitchell: Deliberate and programmatic designMark Glynn: Take a programmatic approach to assessment with portfoliosKevin Kelly & Kristina Hoeppner: Digital ethics principles and UDL guidelinesSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward

Arturo Flores, Jr., is a Psychology and History major at Dominican University of California in his final year. He holds a number of on-campus jobs, amongst them being a peer mentor.Arturo started developing his public portfolio in his first year at Dominican and details some of that journey for us in this episode. He reflects on the benefits of the portfolio for him as a student already now and for the future.This episode is the fourth of five interviews 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 Arturo on LinkedInResourcesArturo's portfolioThe Dominican Experience, of which the portfolio work is partDigital portfolio support at DominicanChristina Mayes, MS, Manager of the Fletcher Jones Digital Portfolio LabNaomi Elvolve, MA, Executive Director of the Student Success CenterJennifer Labovich, BA, Integrative CoachStacy L. Poe, MA, Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, & InclusionRec Sports at DominicanRelated Dominican University of California episodes: Solena Ornelas: Set goals and achieve them with a portfolioStarlight (José) Lain-Straus: The portfolio as impactful practice for studentsKatieAnn Nguyen: Showcase your achievements in a portfolio and be proud of themSubscribe to the monthly newsletter about Mahara and portfolios.Production informationProduction: Catalyst ITHost: Kristina HoeppnerArtwork: Evonne CheungMusic: The Mahara tune by Josh Woodward