Faculty Guide

Responding to Course Progress Hub Signals

Screenshot of the Course Progress Hub in DC Connect.Screenshot of the Course Progress Hub in DC Connect.

The Course Progress Hub is a tool to help students and faculty understand student progress in a course. The hub generates signals that are important to support student success within the course. Each signal involves different review processes and action.

This guide supports faculty to interpret the signals and conduct supportive actions in two paths based on the signals observed:

For an individual student signal

For a flagged assessment signal

Individual Student Outreach

DC faculty member speaking to a student.
Students have individual needs and may be experiencing different barriers on their way to successful course completion.

Next Steps

Curriculum Reinvigoration

DC faculty member teaching class.
If an assessment has a significant failure rate or low average, there may be a curricular or assessment design issue.

Next Steps

Benefits of the Course Progress Hub

There are numerous benefits of the Course Progress Hub for both students and faculty.

For students, the benefits include:

  • The ability to monitor their progress in the course.
  • Promoting agency and self-awareness by being able to show or hide the hub and its results and helping them make informed decisions about their learning while maintaining autonomy and dignity.
  • Transparent information about grades, deadlines, and progress, potentially lessening uncertainty and panic by helping students understand where they are and what options are available to them.
  • The presence of proactive, supportive outreach that communicates to students they are seen as whole people - not just grades - and that support is available before challenges become overwhelming.
  • Normalizing academic struggle and offering clear pathways of support to lower barriers related to stigma, shame, and uncertainty about where to go for help.

As faculty, the benefits include:

  • The ability to identify patterns early and respond with care, rather than reacting only at moments of crisis or course failure.
  • Recognizing when an issue may be rooted in curriculum or assessment design, reducing blame on learners and encouraging reflective practice on course curricula.
  • Centralized, clear signals make it easier to respond thoughtfully and equitably, helping prevent compassion fatigue and “crisis‑only” interventions.
  • A focus on relationship‑building, aligning with strength‑based, trauma‑informed, and wholistic pedagogical approaches that center care, reflection, and collective responsibility.

When used intentionally, the Course Progress Hub supports a learning environment that values care over surveillance, early connection over late intervention, and shared responsibility over an approach based on any individual's deficits.

Benefits of the Course Progress Hub

There are numerous benefits of the Course Progress Hub for both students and faculty.

For students, the benefits include:

  • The ability to monitor their progress in the course.
  • Promoting agency and self-awareness by being able to show or hide the hub and its results and helping them make informed decisions about their learning while maintaining autonomy and dignity.
  • Transparent information about grades, deadlines, and progress, potentially lessening uncertainty and panic by helping students understand where they are and what options are available to them.
  • The presence of proactive, supportive outreach that communicates to students they are seen as whole people - not just grades - and that support is available before challenges become overwhelming.
  • Normalizing academic struggle and offering clear pathways of support to lower barriers related to stigma, shame, and uncertainty about where to go for help.

As faculty, the benefits include:

  • The ability to identify patterns early and respond with care, rather than reacting only at moments of crisis or course failure.
  • Recognizing when an issue may be rooted in curriculum or assessment design, reducing blame on learners and encouraging reflective practice on course curricula.
  • Centralized, clear signals make it easier to respond thoughtfully and equitably, helping prevent compassion fatigue and “crisis‑only” interventions.
  • A focus on relationship‑building, aligning with strength‑based, trauma‑informed, and wholistic pedagogical approaches that center care, reflection, and collective responsibility.

When used intentionally, the Course Progress Hub supports a learning environment that values care over surveillance, early connection over late intervention, and shared responsibility over an approach based on any individual's deficits.

Use this reflective flow chart to help you through the Course Progress Hub process:

Remember, this is a reflection tool. There is additional information to support faculty in the Individual Student Outreach and Curriculum Reinvigeration sections.

What Signals are Used in the Hub?

Screenshot of the students with support indicators signal.

This signal in the hub means there are students with support indicators (late/missed assessment, low grade average, course content not accessed by threshold). For more information on this signal and what it measures, see the Student with Support Indicators section. For information on approaching students to support their course success, please see the Individual Student Outreach Section.

Screenshot of the flagged assessments signal in the Course Progress Hub.
The hub indicates if specific assessments may require support (high failure rate, low average or grades not provided to students). This flag is intended to support faculty in identifying a pattern beyond individual student difficulty. Revisiting either the curriculum or the assessment may be needed to further clarify, please see the Curriculum Reinvigoration section.

Inspired by and partially adapted from Conestoga College’s presentation, “Enhancing Educational Outcomes with Conestoga’s Data-Driven Tools,” presented at D2L Fusion 2024. Durham College gratefully acknowledges Conestoga College eLearning Technical Services for permission to adapt.