The Case for Goal Aware Tools - Reporting Requirements
When we first started consulting with the faculty to determine their requirements of the assessment system, they were certain that they wanted a "portfolio" system that allowed the students to represent their work to the faculty. As time went on, we discovered that the bulk of the data was to come from coursework. While the faculty believed that it was important to look at the students' reflections and explanations of their practice, we pointed out that we actually needed to modify a courseware system to collect the required data when it made the most sense.
It is interesting to note that many schools take a different approach here. Many schools evaluate students against their goals in a separate portfolio system which requires students to reorganize their information and resubmit it. This is extra work for students with questionable benefits.