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Teaching in Dual Credits – The Basics and Beyond

What are Dual Credits?

Dual Credits are college courses, usually delivered on college campuses, that are attended by students currently working towards achieving their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). While the course is a college-level course and meets the standards of a college credit, the students who pass the course get an additional credit toward their OSSD.

“Dual credit programs are programs approved by the Ministry of Education that allow students enrolled in secondary school to take college courses, or apprenticeship courses delivered by a college, and to have those courses count towards both their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) and a postsecondary certificate, diploma, degree, or Certificate of Apprenticeship.”

(Excerpt from “Dual Credit Programs: Policy and Program Requirements”)

For further information on Dual Credit programs, faculty can explore the 2020 version of the “Dual Credit Programs: Policy and Program Requirements” created by the Ontario government.

Further Links for Dual Credit and SWAC in Our Region:

School College Work Initiative (SCWI)

Central Lakes Website

Who are Dual Credit Students?

Dual credit students are secondary school students or young adults attending alternative high school. These students have yet to attain their high school diploma but are academically capable. There are a wide range of challenges that have prevented our students from being on track to graduate high school with their peers. While every students’ story about how they came to be in a dual credit course is different, they are similar in that they struggled while in the regular high school setting.

According to the Ontario government’s policy requirements for DC students, there is a “Primary Target Group” which is defined as follows:

“students in the primary target group – those who face significant challenges in completing the requirements for graduation, or who left school before graduating, because they are disengaged and not meeting their full academic potential, but who have shown evidence of the potential to succeed in college or an apprenticeship”

(Excerpt from “Dual Credit Programs: Policy and Program Requirements”)

One of the greatest ways to get a picture of dual credit students is to explore their success stories on the Central Lakes Regional Planning Team website. Here you will see the range of challenges that our students have overcome to be successful in both the dual credit program and in graduating high school, often to move forward to post-secondary.

Who will you be working with?

For every Dual Credit course there is a Georgian College faculty that plans and teaches the course. In addition to the faculty, there is one Dual Credit Support Teacher from each board involved attached to the class for student and logistical support.

For example, if the class is made up of students from the Simcoe County District School Board [SCDSB] and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board [SMCDSB], there will be two support teachers in the class. These teachers are valuable supporters and collaborators for faculty and students.

Dual credit support teachers are responsible for the following:

  • Support student transition from secondary school to dual credit, acting as an advocate when needed for services or communication
  • Liaise with school board lead on dual credit logistics
  • Communicate with schools and students regarding transportation and troubleshoot daily issues with buses or cabs
  • Complete a student data report by the deadline; ensure that FOI and Exit Surveys are completed on time
  • Attend DC instructor forums
  • Support the delivery of faculty taught dual credits

Resources Developed Specifically for Dual Credit Faculty:

After surveying DC Faculty, Support Teachers, and DC Students on areas of improvement for Dual Credit, there were 7 key areas that were identified as needing improvement. These are conveniently set up as resources for faculty on the Central Lakes Regional Planning Team page.

7 Key Areas:

  • APA (properly citing sources)
  • Blackboard
  • Study Strategies
  • Test Taking Strategies
  • Note Taking
  • Time Management
  • Presentation Skills

What has worked in the past?

Every semester the Dual Credit program at Georgian College hosts a Dual Credit Instructor’s Forum. Here, Georgian College Faculty and DC Support Teachers gather to share best practices for teaching Dual Credit and SWAC students.

Among the ideas that consistently emerge as best practice are the following:

  • Inviting guest speakers to class
  • Organizing relevant field trips
  • Varying teaching strategies and using a variety of teaching tools
  • Having each class consists of a variety of ‘lecture’, group/partner work, individual work, videos, games, interactive learning
  • Making use of Ed. Tech [educational technology] tools (see ed. tech section)
  • Establishing an understanding for the particular challenges of DC students
  • Utilizing flexibility and empathy as standard practice

Guest Speakers to invite from the College:

Library Technicians

  • Email the library with your request
  • Will walk students through library website and how to access resources
  • Can go over the difference between credible and non-credible sources
  • Can show where to get APA help
  • Will introduce the ‘AskON’ chat where students can ask questions of librarians
  • Can help students get set up with library number (different from student number)
  • Complete the library contact form here, send an email, or call 705.722.5139 or toll free at 1.877.890.8477.

Writing Centre Learning Technologists

  • Email writing centre
  • Will walk students through website and how to access resources
  • Help students with getting started on papers

Counselor from Counselling Services

  • Can come in to speak about mental health and college-aged students
  • Will talk about what to do if you feel you need help or if you feel your friend needs help
  • Will discuss GC counselling services available to students:
    BA & MI – 705.722.1523
    OR & MU – 705.329.3113
    OS – 519.376.0840, ext. 2099
    OV – 519.940.0331, ext. 1340
    SGB – 705.445.2961, ext. 2099

Changemakers

  • Georgian is an Ashoka Changemakers College
  • A Changemaker Campus is “a university, college or campus belonging to a community of global leaders and institutions that work collectively to make social innovation and changemaking the new norm in higher education and beyond.” (Georgian College, Changemaker definitions PDF)
  • Faculty can plan with the Changemakers group to do a workshop or to just come in and discuss what being a Changemaker college means
  • Changemaker College Info
  • PDF for Changemaker Definitions

SWAC Student Advisor
– Sammi Marriner

  • Can explain their role with the program
  • Illustrate capacities that students can contact them about (OSAP, ODSP, housing, mental health resources, post-secondary goals)
  • Faculty can contact Student Advisors if they find there are recurring questions in the class around certain topics (OSAP, ODSP, housing, mental health resources, post-secondary goals)

Sammi Marriner

Indigenization Coordinator
– Emma Greenfield

  • Can help faculty incorporate indigenous material into their course
  • Can present relevant background information to students before class enters a unit including Indigenous Studies
  • Can speak to students about opportunities for Indigenous study or mentorship at Georgian
  • Each campus has an Indigenous Student Advisor, if you have a student who would like to access the advisor you can email the advisor or give the student the advisor’s email address:
    BA – Karen Dowan
    MI – Sarah Ouellet
    OR – Mercedes Jacko
    OS – Jennifer Linklater

Important Logistical Information for Teaching at the College:

Grade Entry

For grade entry at the end of semester faculty uses BANNER WEB. You can find a link to Banner Web when you are logged into GC as faculty:

  • Click ‘Quick Links’ to see Banner Web listed
  • Once in Banner, go to Banner Main Menu, scroll down to ‘Faculty and Advisors’ and click
  • Click on ‘Final Grade Entry’ and choose the appropriate semester

Grades are typically due to Banner within one week of your last class. Each remaining student needs a grade entered, even if it is a zero.

  • After you have entered grades click save and they will be submitted to the college after around 24 hours
  • Once grades are ‘rolled’ they cannot be changed
  • Occasionally there are extenuating circumstances where a student has been approved to submit something past the deadline; this requires consultation with the DC Support Teacher in your class and approval from Michelle Rao. In such cases, faculty would enter ‘incomplete’ into Banner for that student

Photocopying Services

You can find a link to Photocopying Services or Grenville when you are logged into GC as faculty. Click ‘Quick Links’ to see Grenville listed. You will need a code for our program, which you can get from the School College Partnerships Program Clerk. Be aware of copyright issues with photocopying material that is not your own (articles, etc.). If you have copyright questions, Georgian College has a copyright expert in the GC Library.

For questions specific to printing and copying, contact Grenville.

Semester Timelines

A copy of Syllabus should be provided to the School College Partnerships Program Clerk by the second week of classes.

  • First week of classes – Week of February 14
  • Last week of classes – Week of May 23
  • Reading Week or March Break – Week of March 14
  • Student withdrawal date: April 14
    • Students who withdraw by February 28 are removed entirely;
    • Students who withdraw between February 28 and April 14 will be noted as WD.
  • Grades due to Banner: June 1