The Study of College Students and Their Sleep Habits Essay

Are you tired and having trouble paying attention in class? Focusing on tasks at hand? Or just completely being overall unproductive? The average college student is deprived at least two full hours asleep each night according to “College Tidbits” a website designed to promote healthy lifestyles and productivity in daily college life. These results were pooled from multiple surveys done over hundreds of campuses throughout the United States. Today, I hope to persuade you to fight the statistics and get those extra two hours of sleep. Do what it takes to get the full seven to nine hours that is suggested by the Mayo Clinic. I will discuss two problems. Why college students are not

Give a one-sentence definition of internal validity. As an example, I’m going to conduct a study that deprives college students of sleep, to prove their grades will go down as a result. If I found a link between reduced sleep and reduced grades, what is an internally valid conclusion about the results of this study (be specific)?

" When students get more rest and sleep, then their grades and also test scores improve by a considerable amount. Grades are one of the, if not the most important thing in school, and if students are not doing well in school because of sleep deprivation, then their future is at risk. Students can only perform well in school when they are fully rested and have a full nine hours of

Sleep affects grades in more ways than one or two or even three. It affect how people feel, think, and act (Gruber,2013). This states that people that have less sleep behave differently than people that get the recommended amount of sleep for their age.They may be more likely to have mistakes in a class or job. They might even act different than they usually do. Sleep also has an affect of no motivation or effort in the work they do (Gruber,2013). This is important because this tells that the person that does not get enough sleep does not have much motivation or effort they put in to the work they perform.People with motivation tend to do things better than people that have none.

One of the many arising problems of America’s students is they are becoming sleep deprived. The busy daily schedules of children and teens are not allowing them to get enough sleep. “Less sleep is unhealthy especially with the new research that as teenagers move through teenage years, they need increasing amounts of sleep. Nine hours per night is the necessary amount to avoid behaviors associated with sleep deprivation” (Final Report Summary, 2001). Among other things, sleep deprivation is causing students to sleep during class instead of being awake and aware. When the students are sleeping in class, they are not retaining information being taught to them. Researchers have now proven that

Sleep deprivation is a serious concern among college students, who are "among the most sleep-deprived age group in the United States," (Central Michigan University, 2008). It is important to study the causes of sleep deprivation, or sleep disorders, among college students. According to Park (2009), "dozens of studies have linked an increase in nightly sleep to better cognition and alertness." A study by Central Michigan University (2008) found that sleep deprivation can lead to poor academic performance, impaired driving, depression, and behavioral problems. There are several variables that may affect sleeping patterns among college students. One is genetics or biological issues. It is highly

In today’s society, many people go through many days yawning, fighting to stay awake and indulging in many cups of coffee. If you were to ask them what the cause of their restlessness was, the popular statement would be a lack of sleep. However, most would not dare to think that a lack of sleep could cause multiple issues in everyday life. This problem has been seen to peak during the good ole college days. It is hard to imagine that those days of all-night cramming sessions and those late nights partying causing students to be sleep deprived could lead to a variety of problems like stress, long term insomnia, and a weakened immune system.

Students are in search of an advantage over the crowd and go to vast lengths to achieve it. Sleep deprived students are the effect of high expectations. Schools such as Silicon Valley brought sleep experts to promote shut-eye. Frank Bruni states that back when he was in the 1980s, there was too much sleep, although today’s students are taking more AP classes, multiple extracurricular, and apply to every Ivies. The author lists numerous books written on the topic of student learning. In college, campus students face anxiety along with depression, they cope with minor setbacks that seem big. They also deal with panic a major factor in “acing the exam, burnishing the transcript, and keeping up with high achieving peers.” Wanting to pull their children off the fast track parents worry about getting them stuck behind. The author believes students should be given wiggle room to find passions, develop interests, and bounce back from failure. Bruni states kids should “tumble gently into sleep, which is a gateway, not an impediment, to dreams.” Students are exhausted from their daily schedules and lose sleep due to it, Bruni proves his point by discussing personal experiences, statistics from other schools, and works he’s read.

“Students who described themselves as struggling or failing school (C's, D's/F's) reported that on school nights they obtain about 25 min less sleep and go to bed an average of 40 min later than A and B students, ps < .001. In addition, students with worse grades reported greater weekend delays of sleep schedule than did those with better grades.” (Wolfson, Carskadon, pg.1). Because some students go to bed later, it results in them having worse grades. Whereas students who go to bed earlier tend to have A’s or

There three types of sleepers according to Kelly (2001). The three types being short sleeper, average sleepers, and long sleepers. The three types described are the lengths compared to the average time a student should sleep. The idea behind Potts-Datema (2005) is that students who sleep for sometime should be fine. The length can vary, but if a student gets some time to sleep is fine, because they at least get some sleep, no matter the length they sleep. Kelly (2001) also found the out of the three type of sleepers that the short sleeper, the ones who sleep less than the average time they should, that they have the lowest grade point average compared to the other two types. Also, the average sleepers, who sleep the average time and the long sleepers, who sleep longer than the average time they should, both have significantly higher grade point averages. But, between the average and long sleepers, the long sleepers have a slightly high grade point average. Therefore, the length of sleep is necessary to a higher extend, than just being able to get some time to sleep. Also, the reaction and response time of the student depends on the length of which they sleep (Chiang 2014; Kelly, 2001). They both also found that the reaction and response time of a short sleepers are more delayed than an average and long sleepers are. Also, a long sleeper has the best reaction and response time, due to they got to rest and regain their energy back, and not be drowsy like short sleepers would be and sometimes an average student would. They have more time to rest their whole body and mind, to be refreshed when

The amount of sleep a person gets each night affects the mental and emotional sides of the human body as well. Lack of sleep will increase the risk of depression and other serious mental problems. Most of these problems could be solved with just a few extra hours of sleep. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that a good amount of sleep for an active student is between 9-10 hours. (Walker 1) Mary Carskadon, PhD, listed just a few out of the many benefits to gaining more sleep, them being reduced likelihood of absenteeism and tardiness, receiving better grades, and having less of a risk of metabolic and nutritional deficits like obesity. Carskadon is the director of the Chronobiology and Sleep Research Laboratory at the Bradley Hospital in Rhode Island, and she is also a Professor for the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University School of Medicine. (National Sleep Foundation 2) A couple times out of the year, I will be tardy to my first hour class for accidentally sleeping through my alarm because my body naturally doesn’t wake up for two or more hours. It is a common problem for other students at my school as well. The University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement collected data that states that “more than 9,000 students at eight high schools in Minnesota, Colorado, and Wyoming and found that shifting the school day later in the morning resulted in a boost in attendance, test scores, and grades in math, English, science, and social studies.” (Richmond

Weaver from Oklahoma State University. According to the authors “the purpose of the present study was to determine if sleep deprivation and/or poor sleep quality in a sample of non-depressed university students was associated with lower academic performance” (Gilbert, Cameron. 295). The study was also made to determine the relationship between sleep deprivation, sleep quality, and academic performance (Gilbert, Cameron. 298). It was hypothesized that by the end of the study, participants who had higher levels of sleep deprivation and poorer sleep quality would have lower academic performance (as indicated by grade point average [GPA] and course incompletions—drops, withdrawals, and incompletes) than participants with little sleep deprivation and good sleep quality (Gilbert, Cameron. 298). By the end of the study, the authors discussed the results in the following narration:

Dreams have a lengthy record of being a subject for debate and a source of motivation. In ancient Egypt, pharaohs had several interpreters to decipher their dreams as they believed they were messages from the gods (Lincoln, 1935, p.68). The ancient Hebrews believed that their dreams were tied to divine revelations as well. Native American tribes believed that dreams were a connection to their ancestors and used obtaining a vision from a dream as a rite of passage (Tedlock, 1981, p.324). In the present day, every night all across the world, people still experience sequences of imagery encompassed by sensations and emotions while asleep. The average person tends to dream up to seven times a night

Thesis Statement: When the projects, exams, and extra-curricular activities start to pile up on one another it seems as though there is not enough time in the day.  This is when college students tend to lose precious hours of sleep and the consequences can be costly.

College students face many difficulties and stressors in college, both academically and non-academically. Some of these challenges include, but are not limited to: financial, health and personal issues. The workload that students can receive from classes as well as the college environment may result in issues that are more health related, such as stress disorders, depression, and anxiety. These in turn may lead to other issues such as sleeping problems or sleeping disorders. Students may develop bad habits that can play a factor as well. Sleeping disorders not only affect a student’s ability to work and to interact in the college setting, but can also affect a student’s mental health.