Christa Matlack & Rebecca Thomas: Scaffold deep reflection

Christa Matlack, MSc, and Associate Teaching Prof Dr Rebecca Thomas from Bucknell University help students go deep into their reflection in their portfolio. They use the Taxonomy of Reflective Inquiry (TORI) to build their prompts for their students. Students can also use OpenAIR, the Open AI Resources, to use generative AI tools to help them with their reflection. The AI does not do the reflection for them though. It asks the questions, based on a specific TORI domain and selected category. Rebecca is also the Inaugural Faculty Director of Bucknell University's Pathways Program, in which she and Christa have been supporting students across the university with portfolios since 2021. Portfolio work at Bucknell University is also supported through the NSF grant 'Revolutionizing Engineering Departments program'. Resources Papers Thomas, R., Appelhans, S., Kozick, R., Matlack, C., Asare, P., Thompson, M., Thomas, S. J., Nickel, R., & Cheville, A. (2023). Addressing the barriers of knowledge transfer: Using ePortfolios to enhance student reflection in technical courses. 2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 1–9.  Thomas, R., Appelhans, S., Thompson, S., Thomas, S., Nickel, R., Cheville, A., Kozick, R., Matlack, C., & Asare, P. (2023). Work in progress: Cultivating reflective engineers: Does providing a reflective ePortfolio experience in a first-year design course lead students to be more reflective in later courses? ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. 'Digication Scholars Conversation' podcast episodes Matlack, C. (Guest), Yan, J. (Host). (2024, January 31). Transforming career services: Insights from Bucknell University’s STEM Career Coach—Part 1 (No. 130). Digication Scholars Conversations [Podcast]. Matlack, C. (Guest), Yan, J. (Host). (2024, February 14). Transforming career services: Insights from Bucknell University’s STEM Career Coach—Part 2 (No. 130). Digication Scholars Conversations [Podcast]. Ramos, C. (Guest), Yan, J. (Host). (2025, March 5). Empathy and engineering: Bucknell student Clea Ramos on AI’s impact in academia and industry—Part 1 (No. 175). Digication Scholars Conversations [Podcast]. Ramos, C. (Guest), Yan, J. (Host). (2025, March 12). Empathy and engineering: Bucknell student Clea Ramos on AI’s impact in academia and industry—Part 2 (No. 176). Digication Scholars Conversations [Podcast]. Thomas, R. (Guest), Yan, J. (Host). (2024, February 21). Empowering STEM majors to make a difference with ePortfolios in engineering education Part 1 (No. 132). Digication Scholars Conversations [Podcast]. Thomas, R. (Guest), Yan, J. (Host). (2024, February 21). Empowering STEM majors to make a difference with ePortfolios in engineering education Part 2 (No. 133). Digication Scholars Conversations [Podcast]. AAEEBL resources AAEEBL Annual Meeting AAEEBL Symposium Thomas, R., & Matlack, C. (2026, June 16). Designing effective reflective prompts for ePortfolios [Workshop]. AAEEBL Symposium, Online. Handout 'Develop an effective reflective prompt' from the workshop at the AAEEBL Symposium Thomas, R., & Matlack, C. (2026, June 17). First-generation students and campus success [Presentation]. AAEEBL Symposium, Online. Thomas, R. (2026, June 17). Show, don’t just tell with ePortfolios in Engineering [Presentation]. AAEEBL Symposium, Online. Student portfolios Clea Ramos' portfolio Jackson Graney's portfolio Related episodes Helen L. Chen: Reflect through conversation to tell your story Mike Joiner-Hill: Represent yourself through a portfolio Mike Altieri: Use reflection bot Riff for deeper and more meaningful portfolio reflection Enikö Parrag: Portfolios create a learning culture 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