Rewarding Participants with Course Credits

My department uses SONA to schedule participants and manage course credits. How is FindingFive's course credit feature different?

FindingFive's course credit feature differs from SONA in several key ways. While SONA focuses on scheduling participants and managing course credits, FindingFive provides an integrated platform where researchers can build and host studies in addition to granting participation credits. Because credits are awarded automatically when a student completes a study, there is no need for manual approval, reducing administrative work and ensuring a smoother experience for both students and researchers.

FindingFive also tracks which courses are eligible for credit each academic term and allows students to decide how to allocate their earned credits among their eligible courses. This gives students more flexibility while ensuring accurate credit distribution.

Since this is a relatively new feature, pricing is tailored to each department's needs and is generally more affordable than other options. Just contact us to learn more.

How can my department sign up to use this feature? Is there any extra cost?

Yes, the course credit feature is available as an add-on separate from standard researcher subscriptions. The cost varies based on the size and needs of the department but is generally much more affordable than other credit management systems. In many cases, departments that license this feature can also bundle it with FindingFive researcher subscriptions, allowing faculty members to use the platform without additional individual costs.

For information on pricing and setup, please reach out to us.

How do I set up my session to reward participants with course credits?

If your department has licensed the course credit feature, the option to offer course credit as a reward will be available when setting up a study session. Researchers can define how many credits a study is worth and set an expiration date based on departmental guidelines. Once the session is launched, FindingFive will handle credit assignment automatically, with no further action needed.

For departments that have not yet licensed the feature, it is still possible to offer course credits manually. In this case, researchers can choose to provide no reward within FindingFive and instead track and assign course credits outside the platform.

Who maintains the list of courses that accept course credits?

Each department using the course credit feature must designate an administrator, typically the subject pool coordinator. This administrator is responsible for maintaining an up-to-date list of courses that accept participation credit each term and ensuring that the credit allocation system aligns with department policies. The admin role can be assigned to an existing researcher account if needed.

Once the students have completed a study and earned course credits, what do they need to do?

Upon completing their participation in a study session, students earn credits that are applied to their participant account. Students must then assign those credits to the right course(s). If students are enrolled in more than one course that accepts course credits, they may choose how to divide their earned credits among those courses.

How will I (or my department) be notified of the course credits that students earn and apply to courses?

The designated administrator, typically the subject pool coordinator, can access a downloadable report at any time. This report provides a record of all completed participations and details how students have assigned their credits. It is the administrator's responsibility to communicate this information to instructors so that credits are reflected in student grades.

Researchers running course credit studies can also track participation records within FindingFive, just as they would for any other study. They have the ability to review completion records and make adjustments if needed.