How Sleep Deprivation Affects College Students’ Academic Performance

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Abstract
Introduction
Hypothesis
Method Section
Discussion Section
References

Abstract

Sleep deprivation is a big issue in many students who desire to achieve positive results in their studies. Many experts have associated poor sleeping habits in students with decreased functioning of the brain. The quality of sleep that students have determines their level of performance at college. The students deprive themselves of sleep to study without looking at the adverse health consequences they exposed themselves to.

Surveys will be used to establish the relationship between lack of sleep and poor performance outcomes in class. The measures to be used will determine why sleep deprivation is a big issue in many academic institutions. The study will seek to validate the argument that sleep deprivation results in poor performance outcomes for college students.

Introduction

This study analyses the effect of sleep deprivation on the performance of college students. Students usually neglect sleep for the purpose of excelling in their academic performance. They sacrifice sleep so as to accomplish school projects and assignments. Their lack of enough sleep makes them dysfunctional in other areas well. Sleep deprivation has been found to affect thinking and cognitive functions within the human brain.

People who do not get enough sleep are unable to perform their tasks to the desired quality compared to those who do. The body’s nerve functions are negatively affected as a result of inadequate and irregular sleep patterns. People who are deprived of sleep have the misunderstanding that their bodies are still able to operate normally, which is not true.

College students who spend a lot of time on other activities at the time they should be sleeping are likely to experience a decline in doing academic tasks and other activities that affect their academic performance. People who sleep a few hours every day are likely to have problems with their memory.

College students are likely to experience a low retention ability of what they learn, which has negative consequences on their academic performance. It is necessary for students to spend their time well to ensure that they have enough rest before embarking on strenuous activities.

Some students stay late at night either studying or getting entertained. This interferes with their normal sleep cycles and this action leads to poor health. These students are likely to have low energy levels in their body because of the constant fatigue they are subjected to. It is important for students to have consistent sleeping patterns in the whole week, including the weekends.

Several surveys have been carried out which sought to evaluate the extent of sleep deprivation and quality among students. The Groniger Sleep Quality questionnaire was one of the tools used in the survey. This survey measured the average times in a week students had slept.

The examined sleep patterns were less than five hours, average number of hours every week spent on sleep, and the number of nights students had spent without sleeping. The survey found that students who on average slept more than five hours had a positive GPA score while those who slept for less than five hours had poor GPA scores.

However, the survey failed to test other important parameters such as class attendance, the ability of students to understand the course material, and student access to crucial learning materials. All these factors have a contribution on the performance of college students (Lowry, Dean, & Manders, 2010, p. 2).

A study was carried out to determine the level of sleep quality in college students. Buboltz, Brown, and Barlow (2001) found out that college students had very many sleep related problems than any other adult grouping.

Their findings closely mirrored those of McClelland and Pilcher (2007) who examined the performance of students who were deprived of sleep (p. 18). Their study looked at 14 college students who were observed on their level of sleepiness in a period of 28 hours. The students in question were able to detach the two causes of drowsiness, the body’s state and their individual conduct.

The study revealed that as time progressed, the students were not able to distinguish between the state of their bodies and their own behavior. This study confirms that sleep deprivation affects students’ personal behavior and the ability of their minds to stay alert. However, the survey failed to bring out other factors that can make a student’s mind to stay alert in a learning environment.

Hypothesis

Sleep deprivation is one of the main reasons students do not to measure up to the set academic standards in educational institutions.

The study seeks to confirm the position of the hypothesis that sleep deprivation leads to poor academic performance in college students. The study aims to validate this hypothetical position through a comprehensive review of various sources of published information that reveal more information about the topic.

This study will seek to advance the existing knowledge regarding the effects of sleep deprivation on academic performance. The study will rely on a variety of published and non published sources to validate the assumptions made by the hypothesis. The results obtained will look at the various ways in which sleep deprivation causes students in higher learning institutions to perform poorly.

Method Section

The participants in the studies highlighted are mainly college students who will be willing to participate in the surveys. The students will be tested on various sleep related issues and the manner in which they affect their performance. Questionnaires will be used to conduct the surveys and gather information from randomly sampled respondents who are willing to contribute to the study.

The design of the study focuses on uncovering more statistics and information that helps to reveal the impacts of sleep deprivation on college students. The research will look at past surveys and studies, which discuss at length the impacts of sleep deprivation on college students.

The surveys conducted will consist of samples drawn from different students from diverse locations. The students will be from different racial backgrounds and will not be given any cash inducements to participate in the study. The students will be taken through procedures that explain how to answer questions on the questionnaires and they will remain anonymous throughout the surveys.

One of the measures to be used will be the Groniger Sleep Quality questionnaire, which measures the students’ quantity and quality of sleep.

The Groniger Sleep Quality tool has been chosen because of its suitability in capturing accurate results regarding the topic under study. The performance outcomes of the students will be evaluated through their GPA scores. The relationship between the GPA scores will be compared to six other variables. These variables included sleep quality, academic excellence as well as the four main aspects of sleep deficiency.

Discussion Section

The hypothesis of this study presumed that college students who do not get enough sleep are likely to register poor performance in their studies. Several reasons lead students to be deprived of sleep which impacts negatively on their performance. There are high expectations that are placed on them by their parents, tutors and their peers on the importance of performing well in the classroom.

Such students are likely to spend more hours studying than sleeping, an action that negatively affects their cognitive functions. Fredriksen, Rhodes, Reddy, and Way (2004) carried out a study on the effects of sleep loss among adolescents during in high school (p. 86).

Their findings revealed that students who did not sleep enough were likely to suffer from depression, poor performance and low self confidence. This study validated the argument that sleep deprivation has adverse consequences on the performance of students in schools and colleges.

Sleep deprivation affects college students’ ability to think; this affects their health and mental alertness to decipher various terms and activities, which they are exposed to during their studies. Trockel, Barnes, and Egget (2000) studied the effects of various health-related behaviors and influences on college students’ GPA scores (p. 126).

The health-related behaviors used in the study comprised of diets, sleeping, time management, religious habits and average hours spent on active engagements every week.

The study revealed that there was a higher relationship between sleeping habits and the levels of performance that are attained by college students. The study concluded that poor sleeping habits contributed to a decline in performance as shown by the GPA results of the affected students.

Bahammam, Alaseem, Alzakri, Almeneessier, and Sharif (2012) argue that late sleeping hours have an unpleasant impact on the academic results of medical students (p. 3). They carried out a study to determine the extent to which sleep deprivation caused poor academic performance in medical students.

They surveyed a total of 410 students; 115 of those surveyed registered remarkable academic performance and the remaining 295 registered average results in their academics. The students who had average results were deprived of sleep because of many reasons. The students who performed well slept for longer durations on average than their counterparts.

Sleep deprivation was found to be a major factor that contributed to poor performance among some of them. The irregular sleep cycles that students have to endure result in sleep deficiency, which leads to a decline in academic performance (Medeiros, Mendes, Lima, & Araujo, 2001, p.264)

This argument has been consolidated by Fenn and Hambrick (2012) who argue that sleep deprivation leads to a decline in working memory capacity (p. 404). They insist that memory performance levels increase after a person has slept. Their findings demonstrate there is a strong correlation between poor sleeping habits and poor academic performance by college students.

It is necessary for students to get adequate sleep for them to perform positively not only in their studies but also in other activities. The rigorous training approaches that are synonymous with some courses make it difficult for students to get enough sleep.

James, Omoaregba, and Igberase (2011) argue that medical students are affected by the rigorous curricula they have to undergo for them to become qualified practitioners (p. 2). These students have to learn in active hospital environments even at night and this does not allow them to get adequate sleep during their free time.

Courses that involve a lot of practical tests and knowledge transfer place a heavy burden on the students. Students are likely to forego sleep in order to study to get good results. It is necessary to restructure some training curricula to give students an opportunity to rest (James, Omoaregba, & Igberase, 2011, p. 3). College students who have the habit of going out are likely to find less time to sleep, which leads to poor performance.

The consumption of alcohol makes students have irregular sleeping patterns. Such students are likely to be overwhelmed by the effects of the alcohol they consume, which compromises their chances of getting proper sleep.

Singleton and Wolfson (2009) bring another interesting dimension which reveals the impact of alcohol consumption on sleep deprivation in students (p. 556). College students who spend most of their time drinking alcohol are likely to devote their time to sleeping and studying.

The hypothesis of this study has been validated by the information and data uncovered by the review of different sources. The sources have shown that there is indeed a correlation between sleep deprivation and poor academic performance in students. The factors that were revealed by the study show that educational institutions need to limit the pressure to perform they put on the students.

The limitations of the study are that it did not look at measures that need to be used to encourage students to sleep for longer periods. Future studies need to look into the ways in which students can be encouraged to sleep more for them to be healthy.

It is necessary to improve the curricula taught in educational institutions to ensure that they do not place a heavy burden on students. Students need to be encouraged to take part in activities that can help them sleep better at night.

References

Bahammam, A.S., Alaseem, A. M., Alzakri, A. A., Almeneessier, A. S., & Sharif, M. M. (2012). The relationship between sleep and wake habits and academic performance in medical students: A cross-sectional study. BMC Medical Education, 12(61), 1-6.

Buboltz, W., Brown, F., & Soper, B. (2001). Sleep habits and patterns of college students: A preliminary study. Journal of American College Health, 50(3), 131-135.

Fenn, K. M., & Hambrick, D. Z. (2012). Individual differences in working memory capacity predict sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 141(3), 404-410.

Fredriksen, K., Rhodes, J., Reddy, R., & Way, N. (2004). Sleepless in Chicago: Tracking the effects of adolescent sleep loss during the middle school years. Child Development, 75(1), 84-95.

James, B. O., Omoaregba, J. O., & Igberase, O. O. (2011). Prevalence and correlates of poor sleep quality among medical students at a Nigerian university. Ann Nigerian Med, 5(1), 1-5.

Lowry, M., Dean, K., & Manders, K. (2010). The link between sleep quantity and academic performance for the college student. The University of Minnesota Undergraduate Journal of Psychology, 3, 16-19.

Medeiros, A. D., Mendes, D. B., Lima, P. F., & Araujo, J. F. (2001). The relationships between sleep-wake cycle and academic performance in medical students. Biological Rhythm Research, 32(2), 263-270.

McClelland, L., & Pilcher, J. (2007). Assessing subjective sleepiness during a night of sleep deprivation: Examining the internal state and behavioral dimensions of sleepiness. Behavioral Medicine, 33 (1), 17-26.

Singleton, R. A, & Wolfson , A. R. (2009). Alcohol consumption, sleep and academic performance among college students. Journal of Alcohol and Drugs, 70,555-565.

Trockel, M. T., Barnes, M. D., & Egget, D. L. (2000). Health-related variables and academic performance among first-year college students: Implications for sleep and other behaviors. Journal of American College Health, 49(3), 125-131.

Click Here To Order Now!