MEMO

To: Psychology Department Faculty Teaching Undergraduate Psychology Courses

From: Michael R. Lowe, Ph.D. and Sapna Doshi

Subject: Offering Undergraduate Students Extra Credit for Research Participation through Sona Systems

Date: March 17, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

At the beginning of the Spring Term, we will again make Sona Systems available to undergraduate students.  We are assuming that professors who teach Introductory Psychology will be providing extra credit to students who participate in studies through Sona Systems. If you would like to opt-out of this extra credit system, please email Sapna Doshi (sdd27@drexel.edu) and let her know. For all other professors teaching any other undergraduate course, if you would like to participate in this system as well, you must contact Sapna Doshi (sdd27@drexel.edu) to let her know. When creating your syllabus there are several guidelines that you should follow:

  1. Direct students to the following link that will provide them with a step-by-step guide on how to use Sona Systems to obtain extra credit and a list of frequently asked questions: http://www.drexel.edu/coas/psychology/research/researchsignup.html
  2. In the syllabus please spell out the following department guidelines for receiving extra credit: Students that participant in studies that provide extra credit will receive 1 extra credit point for every 30 minutes of research participation, up to a maximum of 2 hours (or 4 points). 
  3. Indicate in the syllabus that students can receive a maximum of 4 extra credit points whether it is through Sona Systems, through participating in Psychology Department studies outside of Sona Systems, or by completing the alternative assignment.
  4. In the syllabus please emphasize that students must complete an entire study no later than the last day of Week 10 to receive extra credit.
  5. In your syllabus provide students with alternative options to fulfilling class requirements or receiving extra credit points. For the Spring ’08 term, the professor will be responsible for providing and scoring the extra credit assignment. We are hoping to making this a centralized process through Sona Systems in the future. The following are reasons for why an alternative assignment should be provided:  
    1. There may not be enough studies available in a given term to fulfill requirements/extra credit
    2. Students may not wish to participate in research studies
    3. There are studies that have restrictions or eligibility requirements that disqualify a  student from participation
  6. Please let students know to check Sona Systems weekly as new studies may be added throughout the term.

At the end of the term, a list of students in your course by section will be sent to you with their name and the amount of extra credit points they received. We are trying to centralize this process so that all researchers will enter extra credit into Sona Systems and you will get one list covering your course and section. If a researcher contacts you and wants to provide you with their own list, please ask them contact Sapna Doshi (sdd27@drexel.edu). During the week-long break between terms, students’ extra credit points will zero out, but a history will be retained in case there are any disputes. Lastly, you may be contacted by researchers to recruit from your classes. Before you grant them permission, please ensure that they have spoken to Sapna before allowing them to come recruit from your class. If you have any questions/concerns, please feel free to contact Sapna.