Waking up early isn’t something anyone really wants to do. Even early bids still probably dislike the sound of their alarm. Students, in particular, could probably do without it. So, the data suggesting that early morning classes could be affecting university students’ grades could be interesting.
We might all believe that getting up early is bad for us, but it might actually be true for the academic progress of university students. Looking at high school and university students, a study has found that could be beneficial to their grades.
Later School Start Times Fit Young People’s Natural Rhythms More
The study says that during adolescence, the preferred sleeping time of the body is pushed back compared to at other stages in life. This means that, naturally, teenagers and young adults go to sleep later. However, they are still required to wake up for school and university, typically starting at 9 am.
The data goes on to say that deep sleep, when peak rest is being achieved, happens as the students wake up and get ready for the day. This results in enhanced sleepiness and impaired cognitive ability affecting their memory and retention. It has then been proven that delaying the start time of school to align with teenage circadian rhythms decreases sleepiness and students are getting more optimum sleep.
Getting more sleep means improved cognitive abilities, with students more prepared for learning.
Does Early Morning Classes Affect University Students’ Grades?
The study believes that when university students have early morning lectures to attend, that this could indirectly affect their academic grades.
University students are often still young people with a different circadian rhythm to other adults. As well as that, moving away from home, being in a new environment and socialising at night corresponds to sleeping later. There is also an irregularity to schedule day by day; classes start at different times or even days without needing to attend. This means that students don’t have the same routine and have a day to day change in their waking times.
This unstructured freedom means university have the ability to skip early morning classes if they want to. High school students will have parental pressures to get them to school on time, as well as a highly-monitored attendance. University often doesn’t monitor attendance as strictly, and students are in charge of their own whereabouts.
Deciding to sleep instead of attend their early morning lectures, students will miss out on teaching time. If done repeatedly, could definitely affect their grades.
The study believes delaying early morning classes could mean more university students attend. This would then mean more teaching time and a higher likelihood of improved grades.
Think about all your friends (or even yourself) that would turn up to a lecture if it was at midday instead of 9 am. Everyone loves a lie-in, particularly if you’ve had a late one the night before. Even if you do turn up, the groggier you are the less likely you’re going to take anything in. It’s (probably) more likely you’d be physically more ready to learn later on in the morning and not at the crack of dawn.