Hello! My name is Matt MacNaughton
I am a Portland-area resident since moving to Oregon from New Mexico in the early 90’s. Since then I’ve worked as a software developer, database administrator and systems designer in numerous IT departments and software companies in the area. I’ve also worked as a contract consultant for area and remote clients in the US.
“Matt was an excellent instructor. He pivoted and shifted a lot in order to get students engaged in an otherwise quiet group. He let us have fun with it and pushed us when we needed it.” – Student CIS 140L Introduction to Linux Fall 2024 (see more student comments on Matt’s teaching.)
What I really enjoy most about working as a software developer has been being able to work across different industries. I’ve written software for aviation companies, chip makers, K-12 education, software houses, talent agents, environmental compliance, marketing agencies, fire and emergency response, as well as in the financial and legal industries. Every industry is unique and almost every project has been unique.
PCC has helped me. Now I want to help students at PCC
I have been teaching at PCC since 2018 — 44 sections across 23 consecutive terms in both Computer Science and Computer Information Systems. In 2022–23 I held a full-time faculty appointment in CIS and served on the Subject Area Committee workgroup that rebuilt CIS 140L Introduction to Linux/UNIX as it moved over from Computer Science, so the course I teach most often is one I helped put together.
I’m a believer in lifelong learning. I’ve taken quite a few PCC courses over my years in Portland. I’ve taken and taught many of the PCC courses you will be taking if you are pursuing a computer science transfer.
“[His] engaging attitude towards learning and presenting the information in a way that I and other students understood is invaluable” – Student CIS 140L Introduction to Linux Fall 2024 (see more student comments on Matt’s teaching.)
My approach to teaching
- Mentally pivot to look at a problem from the student’s perspective. I try to do this before making a suggestion.
- Take every student at face value and work with them towards what they say they want out of a course I’m teaching. No one knows you like you.
- Take the materials and time we have available to us to explore and get the basics of our course topics in a structured way that everyone can participate in equally.
- Apply the idiom: “take from no one their song.” Everyone comes to PCC with their own special experiences, background and aspirations. I strive to value and listen to everyone’s “song” every time I work with them.
These are not just intentions — across PCC’s District student evaluation questions my most recent full faculty assessment scored 4.7 out of 5.
Working with students from different backgrounds
Having grown up in the southwest I hold the belief that the definition of “community” means living and learning as part of a diverse and contrasting blend of cultures, beliefs and traditions. This showed in our cuisine, our celebrations and in the way we interacted with each other every day.
From my first professional experience, I learned to appreciate that every individual brings their own unique life perspective, beliefs and “person-ness.” The tag line in my student comments section “Take from no one their song” sums up a life perspective I identified with very early on in college.
In my teaching practice at PCC, I have carried the same approach: I recognize that I may have blind spots (“bias”) affecting my perspective on each and every interaction where I am a participant. The counter to this uncertainty is to be open, sensitive and strategic in my interactions and communications.
I take a “walk a meter in your shoes” approach to student interactions. For example in my courses I may pose icebreaker questions and one of those is to talk about a home dish which you enjoy or traditionally eat. I find cuisine is a great way to express a cultural or regional “story” that’s uniquely yours.
“Professor Matthew MacNaughton is known for his patience with students, as he actively listens to and considers their input.”
“I thought Matt brought real word experience and approaches into the discussion.”– Students CIS 184C Introduction to Information Security Summer 2024 (see more student comments on Matt’s teaching.)
Influences / frameworks
After I completed a graduate course at UNM, Training and Learning Technologies 501 “Instructional Design and Development”, I became a believer in:
As a psychology student at University of New Mexico, I focused on cognitive and behaviorist frameworks.
What I teach
Linux and UNIX — CIS 140L Introduction to Linux/UNIX, CIS 240L Linux Installation and Configuration. I am a Red Hat Academy Program Educator, which is how our 240L students get access to Red Hat’s own curriculum and lab platform.
Databases — CIS 125D Database Application Development, from relational theory and normalization through a working implemented database.
Security and systems — CIS 184C Introduction to Information Security, CIS 121 Information Systems and Programming.
Education
M.S. Computer Science & Engineering — Oregon Graduate Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR.
B.A. Psychology — University of New Mexico. Focus in learning and memory; minor in Professional Writing, concentrating in technical and science writing
Geospatial UAS Specialist Certificate — Portland Community College, 2026.
Graduate coursework in Training and Learning Technologies — University of New Mexico. Instructional design and development; artificial intelligence in education.
Professional Organization & Affiliations
