Abstract
Every former and current student knows the feeling of staying up late for studies without going to bed, and this may either be for school assignments or the examination preparations, for that matter. There is a deeper connection between getting adequate sleep; the prescribed quantity one should work as per health practitioners. The sleeping quantity is linked with the cognitive part of the brain concerned with the Memory of the contents studied by a person. This is a bolster on the consequences the amount of sleep can have on one’s academic performance. The paper’s methodology is composed of a review of both qualitative and quantitative reviews of substantive resources. The sources of concern here are books, e-Journal articles, newspaper articles, and professional websites relevant to the topic of study and the objective.
Sleep has long been known to play a key role in memory growth and consolidation. The NREM and REM phases of sleep are two distinct sleeping cycles that contribute to memory development. The NREM sleep cycle is when memories are generated, and the REM sleep cycle is when they are solidified. In several studies conducted on the same, the variable of the various factors pointed out helps classify the effect of improper sleeping and resting partners on academic performance.
At least 25% of the diversity in academic achievement among students can be attributed to sleep. When you do not get enough sleep, you will not be able to focus and pay attention in class. Students who had a full course load performed worse academically than those who had a good night’s sleep. A student’s academic performance is highly linked to the number of hours they sleep each night instead of the number of hours they sleep each night. Many students feel that skipping sleep and using the time to study will result in improved academic performance and subject comprehension, but this is not the case.
Background
More often than not, lack of proper sleep is classified as a public health concern. The concerns leading to lack of sleep are classified as a health concern because it leads to chronic diseases and conditions; the conditions being referred to include: diabetes type 2, depression, obesity, heart diseases, and memory synchronization concerns (Bazrafshan et al.,2019). Physically not having enough sleep leads to burnout. This is not good for work-related operations for the nation, which may be coupled with educational concerns in severe cases. The lack of proper sleep causes accidents leading to disability and injury. This term paper seeks to bolster the nexus between the amount of sleep one gets and the impact on their academic performance.
From an academic perspective, sleep may be directed or indirectly linked to academic performance depending on the given circumstances. Scientific research establishes that sleep is responsible directly for the consolidation of one’s Memory (Fonseca & Genzel, 2020). The type of Memory being referenced here is the one that retains all the academic concepts that are grasped from relevant sources of information. Memory consolidation is the ability to remember. Adolescents and young adults may experience loss of sleep and heavy sleepiness at night. This affects their cognitive mind not instantly but over a long time.
Methods
The formal approach to the research here is an analytical one that focuses on textual analysis. The methodology employed here is a hybrid that incorporates qualitative and quantitative means of addressing substantive data and information. There are various books, online journals, newspaper articles, and websites being reviewed. It should be noted that recognized search engines on the internet such as Google Scholar, PubMed, and EBSCOhost have played a significant role in compiling this term paper. Many surveys have been conducted, and they try to establish the connections between sleeping patterns and academic and cognitive measures. The materials will be analyzed and contextualized using an analytical approach to explore the views offered in this paper. The methodology is advantageous because it is cost-effective (Admin, 2020) and saves time.
Results
During a research analysis by Kana Okano et al. on the sleep quantity and the level of academic performance, It was found that sleep accounts for at least 25% of the variance in academic performance for various students depending on the student’s cognitive ability. The lack of proper sleep leads to a lack of concentration and attention during classwork and the associated academic activities and events.
According to Sleep Quality, Sleep Propensity, and Academic Performance by Andrew et al., The study examined the links between sleep inclination on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and slept quality on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and educational achievement using data from 414 undergraduate students in introductory psychology. There was no link connecting sleep quality and GPA or the marks earned in introductory psychology classes. Students with a full course load, on the other hand, who reported poor sleep quality fared worse on academic metrics than those who reported high sleep quality.
Experimental research on Sleep complaints affecting school performance at different educational levels was done by James F. Pagel and Carol F. Kwiatkowski. This experiment investigated the link between poor academic performance and sleep disturbance in various educational contexts. The researchers discovered a strong link between daytime sleepiness and inferior school performance in high school students using 98 middle school students, 67 high school students, and 64 college students. Sleep onset and chronic insomnia were linked to lower academic performance in college students. According to this study, sleeping patterns fluctuate based on age group.
Medicine, a technical course that requires more time and effort, is a great analysis course on sleep and academic performance since it is so demanding to its students. Medical students across various jurisdictions and campuses have poor sleeping patterns characterized by insufficient sleeping, leading to a negative performance of most of the students. In a research study by Ahrberga et al. l on medical students to see if the amount of sleep they got affected their academic performance was done 59 percent of all participants showed evidence of clinically meaningful sleep disruptions during exam preparation during the semester, compared to 29 percent during the semester and 8% post-exam, according to studies. According to this study, pupils who appear to perform worse on tests are often those who are stressed and have poor sleep quality.
Scores from the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Poor sleep quality related to poor academic performance in non-depressed children is supported by a substantial negative connection between Global Sleep Quality (GSQ) and grade point average (Gilbert & Weaver, 2010). The incidence of risk for sleep problems among college students is investigated in the study The Prevalence of Sleep Disorders in College Students: Impact on Academic Performance by Jane F. Gaultney, Ph.D. During the 2007-2008 academic year, 1,845 college students were surveyed. Asian and African American students said they were less likely to suffer from insomnia and had better sleep habits.
Discussion
There are various reasons why a student undertaking a school session may lack sleep at all or in the required healthy ratios. The reasons may be classified to be either social or economic. The social reasons may be related to the schoolwork, while the economy may lack sleep due to the care and undertaking of a given shift for the student’s financial capacity. These and many other factors, including alcohol and drug abuse, may be reasons for a student’s lack of adequate sleep.
The accurate relationship between sleep and neuroplasticity is not yet known. Still, it has been identified that sleep has a crucial role in memory development and consolidation, which is very pragmatic. There are two sleeping cycles: the NREM and REM phases, which contribute to memory formation when they alternate. It is said that Memory is formulated during the NREM sleep cycle (Le Bon, 2020). Consolidation of the Memory formed during the NREM stage is consolidated during the REM memory cycle.
Apart from memory consolidation, adequate sleep facilitates memory retention to the optimum in a student, alertness and concentration, ability to recall, and accuracy. Coordination, communication, and teamwork are also enhanced by proper and consistent sleep. Problem-solving and finding creative solutions may add advantages to great academic performance due to sleeping properly (Malkani & Zee, 2020).
A student’s longer and consistent sleeping hours are strongly associated with high academic performance compared to the less and inconsistent. Many students believe that sacrificing sleep and time to study may lead to greater academic performance and enhanced content grasping, but that is not true. Students’ cognitive abilities require enough sleep. From the information analysis, students who do not sleep before exams (Sleep, 2022) and classes perform poorly since they cannot retain the Memory of what they would have learned during the sleeping period.
According to Understanding adolescent sleep patterns and school performance: a critical appraisal by Amy R. Wolfson, and Mary A. Carskadon, Sleep deprivation, inconsistent sleep cycles, and late bedtimes are linked to low academic performance in adolescents from middle school through college. This study examines the association between sleep patterns, sleep quality, and school performance in middle school, high school, and college-aged teenagers.
Before bedtime, coffee consumption and internet media use had a significant impact on academic performance. As per a survey by researchers at the University of British Columbia’s School Sleep Habits Survey, exercise was not connected with any sleep variables (Dimitriou et al.,2015), but it was associated with greater academic achievement (SSHS). The start time on the part of a student matters a great deal. Students who had later start times were less sleepy during the day and were less likely to miss class. Students with earlier class hours, on the other hand, perform better throughout the day (Onyper et al.,2012). Students’ chronotypes are a key determinant of whether or not they get up earlier and perform better.
Conclusion
Sleep and academic performance go hand in hand. Conclusively, one’s ability to learn is dependent on the amount of sleep that a person gets. Students and their instructors should realize that lack of sleep takes a toll on their academic performance. To mitigate the effect, there is a need to establish systems and protective mechanisms to ensure that the hard work made during class sessions and the extended periods is not wasted. Young people and adults are supposed to sleep at least 7-9 hours which is healthy. Any student who says they do not have time for sleep is ignorant and is not well vast with the science behind the need for proper sleep.
References
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Bazrafshan, M. R., Rahimpoor, R., Moravveji, F., Soleymaninejad, N., Kavi, E., Sookhak, F., & Zolghadr, R. (2019). Prevalence and Effects of Sleep Disorders Among Shift Work Nurses. Jundishapur J Chronic Dis Care, 8(1), e81185.
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