Some (but not all) PSC, CMN, and LIN instructors offer extra credit in exchange for research participation. The exact number of extra credits available to you will vary according to your instructor. This information should be available to you on your course syllabus, and is also listed on Sona Systems. You can fulfill these extra credits through research participation.
You may go to the Welcome section for more information and links to other pages on this site that explain how to use the system. A detailed walk-through with pictures can be found here. You can also read the FAQ.
To begin participating in experiments please go to the Sona website and login. Your UserID should be the last 6 or 7 digits of your student ID. Your password is encrypted, so no information about it can be included on this site. If you have never logged into the Sona System before, or if you do not remember your password, go to the Sona login page and click on “Forgot Password?” Enter your user ID or UCD email address, and the system will send information to your UCD email address about how to obtain your password. Note: If you added the course after the first week of classes, you may not be able to log-in.
If you receive an error message indicating that your username does not exist, please email the Subject Pool Coordinator at spcoordinator@ucdavis.edu with your student ID number and the name of the course you’d like to be added to. Be sure to include the section number. If you do not know the section, your professor’s name is also helpful.
The first of your credits can be obtained by completing an on-line background questionnaire which will be used by some of the researchers. This departmental prescreening questionnaire begins with “DSUR.” Even if you have taken a departmental prescreening questionnaire in a previous quarter, you may still take it for credit
Yes, you can write a paper for research credit. Be sure to follow the instructions for the paper option, which can be found here. Papers that are completed according to the requirements are worth 2 points. Papers that do not meet the requirements listed on the paper option page WILL NOT receive credit. You cannot earn partial points.
Turn in your paper to the Sona Papers SmartSite. Upload your paper in either Word or pdf. Other formats will not be accepted. Be sure to turn in your paper by the deadline noted above. NOTE: Turning it in at the last minute will not leave time for necessary revisions. If your paper is not satisfactory, you will not receive credit.
There is a limit to the number of credits you can earn from online studies. Please see the FAQ section on online studies for details.
No. The credit you receive from one experiment may be put towards one class and one class only. The one exception is that the prescreening questionnaire (DSUR) can count for multiple classes. If you would like to use the prescreening questionnaire for multiple class, after you have completed the questionnaire, email the Subject Pool Coordinator at spcoordinator@ucdavis.edu with the names classes you are taking that need to be credited. You must submit this request by the deadline above.
No. You CANNOT reuse credits from previous quarters. Although it may seem that you can reassign your previously-earned credits, if you look closely you’ll see your previous credits are set to 0 and therefore won’t count towards your current classes.
If you are enrolled in multiple courses, you have to decide how your credits will be split between your courses. You must finalize how your credits are assigned by the last day of instruction, because the extra credit reports are submitted to your instructors the next day. You cannot change how your credits are assigned once finals begin. Though you will be able to reassign credits on Sona Systems, your instructors will have already received the credit report for the class by this time.
Unlike the research requirement for PSC 1 and 41, extra credit is optional and not completing the credits will not result in an Incomplete or negatively affect your grade. You will simply not receive any extra credit.
The only required credits are those for PSC 1 or 41. Sona Systems simply does not have an option that would allow extra credit to be listed as “Optional.” You can disregard the “Required” label.
The deadline is posted above. You must finalize how your credits are assigned by the deadline, as the extra credit reports are submitted to your instructors the next day. You cannot change how your credits are assigned once finals begin. Though you will be able to reassign credits on Sona Systems, your instructors will have already received the credit report for the class by this time.