Do I need to have an RPP system account?

No. The RPP coordinator will manage the system for you.

How much research do students have to participate in?

Student enrolled in PSY 101 or PSY 202, are required to complete four units (see below) of research participation.

For students enrolled in a psychology course that is not PSY 101 or PSY 202, the amount of research they should participate in is up to you as their instructor. The same is true for the result of a student participating in research. For instance, you may use research participation as an way for students to earn extra credit.

What counts as a "unit" of research participation?

A unit corresponds to 30 minutes of participation. Therefore, a one-hour study would count as two units of research participation. The unit value of a study, which ranges anywhere from one unit (30 minutes of research participation) to four units (2 hours of research participation), will be indicated in the study description.

What if someone fails to complete the RPP requirement?

For students enrolled in PSY 101 or PSY 202, failure to complete the mandatory research participation requirement by the deadline listed above will result in them receiving an Incomplete in the course.

For students enrolled in a psychology course that is not PSY 101 or PSY 202, then the effect of not participating in RPP research is up to you as their instructor.

How do I include my class in the RPP system?

If you teach PSY 101 or PSY 202, then your students will be automatically included in the RPP system. The RPP coordinator will contact you near the beginning of the semester to provide you with following text to include in your syllabus:

Research Participation
This course includes mandatory participation in research through the department’s Research Participation Pool (RPP). The RPP serves two purposes. First, it provides a source of participants for students and faculty in the psychology department who are conducting research. Second, it provides students with first-hand experience participating in the psychological studies being conducted in the department.

During the second week of classes, the RPP coordinator will come to your class to explain the various ways that you can satisfy this research participation requirement. While most of these opportunities will involve being in a research study, there are also writing assignments available for students who either (1) object to taking part in psychological research or (2) are under 18 years of age. Please note that, although this requirement is not graded, failure to complete the research participation requirement will result in you receiving an Incomplete in the course.

If you have any questions about this requirement, please contact the RPP coordinator (Jason Reiss, reiss_jason@wheatoncollege.edu | (508) 286-3636) or visit the following web page for a more thorough explanation on how the RPP works:

http://wheatoncollege.edu/psychology/experiential-opportunities/research-participation-pool/

The RPP coordinator will also schedule a time to visit your class early in the semester and explain the mandatory research requirement to your students.

If you teach a psychology course that is not PSY 101 or PSY 202, the RPP coordinator will contact you near the beginning of the semester to ask if you want your students included in the RPP system. At that time, you will work with the RPP coordinator to set up the type of involvement you desire (e.g., extra credit, etc.). Note: The RPP coordinator typically does not visit classes other than PSY 101 and PSY 202 unless this is specifically requested.

In either case, please e-mail the RPP coordinator (see link to the left of this page) if you are not contacted you by the first week of classes.

Will using the RPP system require much of my time?

No. Practically none. At the beginning of the semester, the RPP coordinator will create accounts for each of the students in your class and send them instructions on how to begin using the system. During finals week, the coordinator will send you a report on each student’s amount of participation so you can incorporate this information into his/her final grade. If you want to incorporate student RPP participation into course grades at multiple time points during the semester (e.g., in time for mid-semester warnings), just tell the RPP coordinator.

What if there are not enough studies?

The department will make every effort to make it possible for students to satisfy your course’s research participation requirement via studies, but in case we are not able to do so, they will need to write papers.

For instance, let’s say that someone is a student in PSY 202 and he/she has only participated in one hour-long study (worth 2 units) without any no-show penalties. If there are no more studies for this person to do, he/she will also need to complete one of the written assignments (also worth 2 units). That will satisfy the four units of participation he/she needs for PSY 202.

Keep in mind that students may complete a writing assignment at any time during the semester to count for participation units.

How is each student participant's privacy protected?

The RPP system automatically assigns each participant a unique numeric ID code. The purpose of the ID code is to identify participants to researchers in a way that does not reveal their identity or compromise their privacy. Researchers using the RPP system only know participants by their ID code, and not their name.

Additionally, the only people who know who is a participant in a study are the participant, the study researcher, and the RPP coordinator. No other users, including other participants, researchers, or you as their instructor, may see this information. For instance, for students enrolled in PSY 101 or PSY 202, you will simply know whether or not they fulfilled the mandatory research participation requirement. You will have no idea what they did to satisfy that requirement though.

Furthermore, know that all data you provide, whether they be answers to a questionnaire or responses in a laboratory experiment, are maintained in a way that prevents public or general access. Unless the participant has given explicit and written permission, none of the data he/she provides will be published or otherwise disseminated in a manner that allows him/her to be personally identified.

Who is responsible for addressing student issues?

For students enrolled in PSY 101 or PSY 202, the RPP coordinator will answer all questions about the mandatory research requirement itself and the operation of the RPP system. Instructors of these courses should direct any students with a question, problem, or complaint to the RPP coordinator. Only the RPP coordinator can make determinations regarding whether the research participation requirement has been met. This approach is designed to ensure that the mandatory research participation requirement is handled in a way that is fair and consistent across courses and instructors.

For students enrolled in a psychology course that is not PSY 101 or PSY 202, the RPP coordinator will answer all questions about the operation of the system (including complaints). However, the instructor of the course is responsible for answering question regarding research participation issues that are specific to that course (e.g., “how much extra credit will I earn?”, etc.).

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