Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore found that early morning lectures at the university were associated with poor sleep and student performance. The research was published in the journal Nature Human Behavior.
The scientists used data from 23,000 students. Attendance to the lectures was monitored with the Wi-Fi connections in the university building. It turned out that there was worse attendance at morning classes. 181 students also participated in the research. Each participant wore an activity watch. It turned out that the low participation was due to the students sleeping in the lessons. This indicates that it is a lack of sleep and not other reasons that affect participation.
The scientists then analyzed the grades of 33,000 students. It turned out that the more morning classes the students had, the lower their average score.
Recent studies have shown that starting later in high school increases the amount of sleep students get and also reduces their sleepiness during school hours. A new study has shown that postponing morning classes can also improve student performance.