The foundation of the DYN leveling up system is a set of rubrics for assessing new media artifacts based on the tasks involved in their creation. The rubrics include separate criteria for each of the formats that lead up to the culminating artifact. The critical disposition is embodied in the role of critic and the social disposition in the role of innovator. The constructive disposition is broken down by the five major categories of methods involved in constructing new media messages. Each category may include more than one specific role.
This structure is designed to allow assessment of the artifact as a whole as well as assessment of the roles involved in creating the final artifact. These roles include the obligation that all DYN students have to perform the roles of critic and innovator as well as specific roles involved in the construction of the artifact. DYN has developed rubrics for the construction of selected culminating artifacts, as well as for critique and innovation. In the artifact rubrics, each criterion aligns to one or more roles involved in the construction of the artifact. In the critique rubric, each criterion aligns to one of the five core concepts—authorship, format, audience, purpose, and content—involved in understanding the meaning of new media messages. In the innovation rubric, each criterion aligns to one of the five core values of new media communication—creativity, collaboration, adaptability, responsibility, and identity.