ACE 2 Demonstrate competence in communication skills in one or more of the following ways:
a. by making oral presentations with supporting materials,
b. by leading and participating in problem-solving teams,
c. by employing communication skills for developing and maintaining professional and personal relationships, or
d. by producing and/or interpreting visual information.
Each ACE 2 certified course should identify primarily with one of the four sub-parts (recognizing that overlap likely exists). This identification will be largely determined by the signature assignment(s) faculty use to certify/re-certify the course for ACE 2. Each course will be evaluated in terms of its effectiveness in developing the ACE 2 competency based on the rubric associated with the sub-part with which it is primarily identified (see rubrics for sub parts a, b, c, and d below).
| Description | Exemplary 4 |
Acceptable 3 |
Developing 2 |
Deficient 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demonstrates capacity to develop a central message | Central message is compelling (precisely stated, appropriately repeated, memorable, and strongly supported.) | Central message is clear and consistent with the supporting material. | Central message is basically understandable but is not often repeated and is not memorable. | Central message can be deduced, but is not explicitly stated in the presentation. |
| Demonstrates capacity to effectively organize the oral messag | Organizational pattern (specific introduction and conclusion, sequenced material within the body, and transitions) is clearly and consistently observable and is skillful and makes the content of the presentation cohesive. | Organizational pattern (specific introduction and conclusion, sequenced material within the body, and transitions) is clearly and consistently observable within the presentation. | Organizational pattern (specific introduction and conclusion, sequenced material within the body, and transitions) is intermittently observable within the presentation. | Organizational pattern (specific introduction and conclusion, sequenced material within the body, and transitions) is not observable within the presentation. |
| Demonstrates the capacity to identify and incorporate supporting material | A variety of types of supporting materials (explanations, examples, illustrations, statistics, analogies, quotations from relevant authorities) make appropriate reference to information or analysis that significantly supports the presentation or establishes the presenter's credibility/authority on the topic. | Supporting materials (explanations, examples, illustrations, statistics, analogies, quotations from relevant authorities) make appropriate reference to information or analysis that generally supports the presentation or establishes the presenter's credibility/authority on the topic. | Supporting materials (explanations, examples, illustrations, statistics, analogies, quotations from relevant authorities) make appropriate reference to information or analysis that partially supports the presentation or establishes the presenter's credibility/authority on the topic. | Insufficient supporting materials (explanations, examples, illustrations, statistics, analogies, quotations from relevant authorities) make reference to information or analysis that minimally supports the presentation or establishes the presenter's credibility/authority on the topic. |
| Demonstrates the capacity to effectively deliver an oral message | Delivery techniques (posture, gesture, eye contact, and vocal expressiveness) make the presentation compelling, and speaker appears polished and confident. | Delivery techniques (posture, gesture, eye contact, and vocal expressiveness) make the presentation interesting, and speaker appears comfortable. | Delivery techniques (posture, gesture, eye contact, and vocal expressiveness) make the presentation understandable, and speaker appears tentative. | Delivery techniques (posture, gesture, eye contact, and vocal expressiveness) detract from the understandability of the presentation, and speaker appears uncomfortable. |
| Description | High proficiency 4 |
Proficiency 3 |
Some Proficiency 2 |
No/Little Proficiency 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demonstrates ability to be an effective member of a problem-solving team | Helps the team move forward by articulating the merits of alternative ideas or proposals. Engages team members in ways that facilitate their contributions to meetings by both constructively building upon or synthesizing the contributions of others as well as noticing when someone is not participating and inviting them to engage. | Offers alternative solutions or courses of action that build on the ideas of others. Engages team members in ways that facilitate their contributions to meetings by constructively building upon or synthesizing the contributions of others. | Engages team members in ways that facilitate their contributions to meetings by restating the views of other team members and/or asking questions for clarification but offers limited original insights to advance the work of the group. | Engages team members by taking turns and listening to others without interrupting but has little to no contribution to the team’s problem-solving process. |
| Demonstrates understanding of leadership within teams | Facilitates a superbly-organized team process that allows for all members to consistently participate. Provides a clear structure for team communication and decision- making processes that is adapted to the team members and task at hand. | Facilitates a well-organized team process that allows for all team members to participate some of the time. Provides a loosely defined structure that encourages team communication and facilitates decision-making processes. | Facilitates a semi-organized team process that enables at least some members to participate some of the time. Encourages team participation though does not define a structure for that communication. Clear decision- making processes are not well defined though sometimes emerge organically. | There is little evidence of an organized team process for communication, team member participation, or decision-making. |
| Description | High proficiency 4 |
Proficiency 3 |
Some Proficiency 2 |
No/Little Proficiency 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demonstrates ability to engage in competent (effective and appropriate) communication with others across contexts. | Includes a sophisticated explanation and demonstrated understanding of concepts associated with communication competence across contexts. Cites course concepts and/or outside material to evidence understanding with accuracy. Accurately applies concepts to practical communication examples. | Includes an explanation and demonstrated understanding of concepts associated with communication competence across contexts. Provides some evidence of understanding by citing course or related concepts. Applies concepts to practical communication examples. | Explanation and demonstrated understanding of concepts associated with communication competence across contexts are evident, but not fully developed. Provides few links to course or related concepts. Does not demonstrate an ability to accurately apply course concepts across contexts, or application is underdeveloped. | Inaccurate or underdeveloped explanation and demonstrated understanding of concepts associated with communication competence across contexts. Does not provide evidence to support explanation. Concepts are not applied or are inaccurately applied. |
| Comprehends and demonstrates effective ways to manage conflict. | Includes a sophisticated explanation and demonstrated understanding of concepts associated with conflict and conflict resolution across contexts. Cites course concepts and/or outside material to evidence understanding with accuracy. Accurately applies concepts to practical communication examples. | Includes an explanation and demonstrated understanding of concepts associated with conflict and conflict resolution across contexts. Provides some evidence of understanding by citing course or related concepts. Applies concepts to practical communication examples. | Explanation and demonstrated understanding of concepts associated with conflict and conflict resolution across contexts is evident, but not fully developed. Provides few links to course or related concepts. Does not demonstrate an ability to accurately apply course concepts across contexts or application is underdeveloped. | Inaccurate or underdeveloped explanation and demonstrated understanding of concepts associated with conflict and conflict resolution across contexts. Does not provide evidence to support explanation. Concepts are not applied or are inaccurately applied. |
| Demonstrates the ability to manage goals and perspectives of all parties within an interaction. | Includes a sophisticated explanation and demonstrated understanding of concepts across contexts. Cites course concepts and/or outside material to evidence understanding with accuracy. Accurately applies concepts to practical communication examples. | Includes an explanation and demonstrated understanding of concepts across contexts. Provides some evidence of understanding by citing course or related concepts. Applies concepts to practical communication examples. | Explanation and demonstrated understanding of concepts across contexts is evident, but not fully developed. Provides few links to course or related concepts. Does not demonstrate an ability to accurately apply course concepts across contexts or application is underdeveloped. | Inaccurate or underdeveloped explanation and demonstrated understanding of concepts across contexts. Does not provide evidence to support explanation. Concepts are not applied or are inaccurately applied. |
Courses certified under ACE 2D would be assessed according to either production or interpretation.
| Production | High proficiency 4 |
Proficiency 3 |
Some Proficiency 2 |
No/Little Proficiency 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proficiency with media | Clearly exhibits high proficiency with specific media used in the creation of visual information/ artwork/ design work | Exhibits proficiency with specific media used in the creation of visual information/ artwork/ design work | Struggles with specific media used in the creation of visual information/ artwork/ design work | Cannot employ specific media used in the creation of visual information/ artwork/ design work |
| Creativity aligns with intended communication. | Clearly exhibits ability to creatively manipulate formal and conceptual elements of visual information/ artwork/ design work | Exhibits ability to creatively manipulate formal and conceptual elements of visual information/ artwork/ design work | Struggles to creatively manipulate formal and conceptual elements of visual information/ artwork/ design work | Cannot creatively manipulate formal and conceptual elements of visual information/ artwork/ design work |
| Interpretation | High proficiency 4 |
Proficiency 3 |
Some Proficiency 2 |
No/Little Proficiency 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interpretation | Clearly expresses how and what the artifact or performance communicates. | Expresses how and what the artifact or performance communicates | Struggles to express how and what the artifact or performance communicate. | Cannot express how and what the artifact or performance communicates. |
| Evaluation | Clearly communicates the formal or conceptual elements present in visual information using oral or written forms. | Communicates the formal or conceptual elements present in visual information using oral or written forms. | Struggles to communicate the formal or conceptual elements present in visual information using oral or written forms. | Cannot communicate the formal or conceptual elements present in visual information using oral or written forms. |