SONA Tutorial - Instructor Accounts

>> Hello and welcome.

Thank you for viewing the SONA systems
tutorial intended for instructors.

The following section will demonstrate the
processes of creating an instructor account

in the SONA system and how to recover the
password to a SONA instructor account.

To create an instructor account on
SONA, navigate to sfsu.sona-systems.com.

On the right side of the screen,
click the request account button.

On the following page, enter your
first and last name and e-mail address.

Enter your SFSU ID as the user ID.

Click the request account
button when you are done.

You will receive an automated e-mail with
your login information and an identity code.

At this point, e-mail the SONA
administrator at [e-mail]

and request an instructor
role be added to your account.

In the request e-mail, please
state that you have an account

but need an instructor role added.

Also include the full name and e-mail
address you used to sign up for SONA.

Finally, include the courses you are offering
SONA credit in and the maximum number of credits

in which students can earn in your course.

To recover a forgotten or lost password,
navigate to sfsu.sona-systems.com

and on the right side of the screen,
click the forgot password button.

Follow the steps in the following
screen to retrieve your password.

If you are still unable to
login or retrieve your password,

please contact the SONA administrator
at [e-mail].

The following section will cover the current
departmental and IRB policies for use

of the SONA system as an instructor
as well as provide answers

to several common questions
regarding SONA credits.

In most of the core classes, students
are required to complete a total

of three research credits in the SONA system,
with an additional 1/2 credit required

for each unexcused absence they
earn by not showing up to a study.

Several other courses also offer SONA
participation, typically as extra credit.

The number of credits that can be
completed is chosen by the instructor.

Most instructors choose between three
and six SONA credits for their courses.

Most classes make one SONA credit equal
to 0.5 to 1% of the final class grade.

For example, in a 600 point class, one
SONA credit would be equal to three

to six points on the class grading scale.

Assignment of SONA credit is
based on these three factors.

First, the time required to
complete the study means the amount

of time a student spends completing
the study should translate

to a certain number of SONA
credits being earned.

This results in 0.25 credits for
each 15 minutes of student time.

For example, a 60 minute study
would be worth one credit

and a 70 minute study would
be worth 1.25 credits.

Notice that researchers should always
round up when assigning credits.

Second, the location of the study means

where the student completes
the study should also translate

to a certain number of SONA
credits being earned.

This results in no additional credit for studies
completed online but an additional 0.5 credits

for all studies completed in-person.

For example, a 15 minute study done in-person
would be worth 0.25 credits for the time

of the study with an additional 0.5
credits for being done in-person,

resulting in a total of 0.75 credits.

Remember that researchers should
always round up when assigning credits.

Third, the number of sessions for the study
means how many times the student needs

to complete an action which
should also translate

to a certain number of SONA
credits being earned.

This results in no additional credits
for studies completed in a single session

but an additional 0.5 credits for all
studies completed at subsequent sessions.

For example, a 15 minute study with two sessions
would be worth 0.25 credits for the time

of the study in the first session
with an additional 0.5 credits

for the second 15 minute session, resulting in
a total of 0.75 credits for the second session.

It is important to keep in
mind how long instructors have

to collect data in the SONA system.

SONA opens the first week of instruction
during the following spring semesters.

The SONA system closes at 5 PM the
final weekday before final exams begin.

Students will not be able to complete
studies once the final exams have begun.

This ensures that all completed credits
will be awarded to students and listed

in the SONA system before instructors
calculate their final grades.

All instructors are welcome to set earlier
deadlines for completing the studies.

Please make the deadline for student
participation clear when writing your syllabus.

This concludes the training on
instructor accounts in the SONA system.

For any questions not answered by this video,

please check our FAQ sheet first
posted to the department website.

If you still have questions
after reviewing the FAQ sheet,

you can contact the SONA
administrator at [e-mail].

Thank you for watching.