Instructors who are allowing their students to earn extra credit for research participation, should make a brief announcement explaining their extra credit policy and directing their students to the Research Participation System website where they can sign up to participate in various Communication studies. Students can earn up to 1/2% for every half-hour they participate in a study, with a total of no more than 3% extra credit allowed for any one course. Additionally, students may earn additional credit if they choose to participate in a study that requires a specific sign-up time and/or showing up to a specific location. Instructors may want to include instructions in their syllabus regarding extra credit and research participation policies.

The following paragraphs provide an example of a description that can be included in a syllabus describing the extra credit policy for research participation:

Extra Credit for Participating in Research Studies 

The Brian Lamb School uses an online research participation system to allow you to participate in research studies related to communication. This system allows you to easily sign up for studies, track what studies you have participated in, and see how much extra credit you’ve earned for your different communication courses. By participating in these research studies, you can help develop the field of communication, learn more about how research in communication is done, and improve your own grade.

You can sign up to participate in studies by logging in to the Research Participation System at http://purdue-comm.sona-systems.com/ or by going to the Communication School website and selecting Research >Research Participation System.

You can receive .5% extra credit for every 30 minutes. Studies may be worth additional credit if they require additional effort such as making an appointment or coming to a specific location, such as the John O. Greene and Carrie L. Johnston Research lab of the BLSC. The percentage earned for each study is listed on each study sign-up. The maximum extra credit that can be earned for any study is 3%, and the maximum extra credit that can be applied to a single course is also 3%. 

For students who are ineligible for current studies or who do not wish to participate in current studies on the SONA system, alternative assignments are available. These are found in the same place as regular studies in the system and will be labeled as alternatives. These alternative activities come as either 30-minute or 60-minute assignments, which are worth .5% or 1% credit, respectively, as with studies. There will be multiple options for these studies available, though each one can only be done one time, as with regular studies. 

If you sign up for a study but fail to show up without properly notifying the researcher, you may be restricted from signing up for more studies for up to 30 days, so please show up to studies that you sign up for.