Statement of the Problem
In a school set up or in any institution where learning takes place for long hours, it is not uncommon to find a time when most students are busy struggling to stay awake due to various factors. The amount of students dozing depends on the subject being taught, the method of teaching used by the teacher, the time of day when the lesson is taking place, the condition of the student at the time when the lesson is taking place and poor communication strategy on the part of the teacher (News Express India, 2015). Dozing in class by students impedes the reception of the material being taught and this causes a teacher or lecturer to repeat the lecture in order to ensure that the students are able to grasp the content being taught. Constant repetition of the same topic reduces the attention span of the students and the result is a topic that is not well-taught. The ultimate result of this is failing in exams since a student is unable to recall class content. Dozing in class is also a representation of a larger issue regarding the emotional or physical well-being of a student, which acts as a tell-tale sign for the teacher or lecturer. In extreme cases, students end up sleeping instead and this may result in various consequences such as disruption of the lesson when the teacher summons the sleeping student and in other cases, punishment is meted out so as to prevent reoccurrence of the behavior. In both cases, lower grades are obtained and other negative effects accompany this such as low self-esteem and disrespect for the teacher, depending on how the student reacts to the punishment. In extreme cases, depression and anxiety may be observed.
Theory
A few students doze off during morning classes and this could be as a result of lack of enough sleep while at home or due to having taken a heavy breakfast or no breakfast at all. Those who had not taken any breakfast felt hungry a few minutes into the lesson and their concentration span was reduces soon as they started dozing (News Express India, 2015). Those who lacked enough sleep were unable to keep awake in class and thus took the time to complete their sleep in classroom.
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Most students doze in class in the afternoon since during this period, their brains are usually tired and thus their levels of concentration are low. This is also the period of time after lunch and most students are usually full from the food served at lunch time. Other students who tae snacks before class, especially during recess also fall under this category as they are unable to concentrate in class after ingesting food since they are normally to satisfied and too comfortable after the meal.
Hypothesis
Between 8.15 am and 1.00 pm, a good number of students will be observed to be asleep in class. It is possible to suggest that most students sleep due to lack of enough sleep at night and due to poor communication on behalf of the teachers (News Express India, 2015). Lack of enough sleep while at home can be attributed to the long hours spent while awake and the fact that schools start early (Lahey, 2014) The number will increase between 1.00 pm and 3.00pm as the students will be coming from lunch.
Procedure
The observer of this project chose to study the behaviors of students in elementary school so as to determine the different conditions that cause different students to sleep during lessons. The school also provides a chance to examine people of different ages and thus several variables to choose from. The observer was situated in classrooms where there was direct contact between the observer and the subjects. Positions within the classroom depended on the preference of the teacher taking the particular class, although most preferred that the observer sit at the back of the classroom or in the midst of students. The observer was visible to the subjects of study. This ensured that there was direct contact between the subjects and observer in order to note down the causes and number of students who slept at various times. Data was collected by observation and a few students were interviewed so as to obtain their opinions on reasons why students sleep during class. The number of students that were noted to be asleep at various times was recorded and the times noted down so as to establish the cause of sleep. A few students were given questionnaires to fill out regarding their thoughts on what time of the day most students were likely to sleep in class and what factors contributed to sleeping in class.
Results
It was observed that about 30% of the students started dozing off during the first lesson of the day which was at 8.15 am. A few students continued to doze during the consequent lessons. Lessons that took place in the afternoon had the highest number of dozing students, which was noted to be at 77%. These were results that were recorded based on time of day when lessons were set. With regards to communication, 40% of students were observed to be dozing when the teacher spoke in a low voice and used a monotone while only 5% were noted to be dozing when the teacher spoke in a loud voice and used tonal variation when teaching.
Discussion
From the results obtained, it is easy to determine that most students are sleep deprived and this accounts for the percentage that is observed to be asleep during the morning classes. This was because most of them stayed up late to complete school assignments or were on their phones until late at night (***). This can also be explained by the fact that several schools tend to start their schedules earlier and thus students have to be up early in order to get to school on time. This reduces the number of hours they sleep, leading to sleep deprivation. Some students also found it hard to fall asleep early and as a result, they experienced sleep deprivation (Zuckerman, n.d.). This can be explained by the change in their biological beings experienced at puberty whereby they feel more awake later in the night and thus find it hard to sleep, despite the fact that they require more hours of sleep.
There is an increase in the number of students sleeping in class during the day, especially after lunch recess since most of them are satisfied by lunch at this time and this increases comfortability in the classroom, causing them to doze off and sleep.
Depending on how communication by the teacher, many students dozed off or slept when the teacher was not audible or appeared to be boring by using a monotone. This is because some of the students strained to listen to the teacher and thus ended up dozing. The use of a monotone creates a boring classroom atmosphere that causes students to doze off during lessons. There was a reduced number of sleeping student in the event that the teacher used tonal variation and spoke audibly since they were able to pay attention without straining. The use of tonal variation when speaking also ensured that the class remained active throughout. The few students found sleeping during such classes can be said to lack an interest in the particular subject or have other underlying problems such as being ill or suffering from depression.
Section 2
Statement of the Problem
When considering the number of students who fall asleep during class, the main reason given was the numerous assignments that they were given and the limited amount of time that they had to sleep since school started early. By introducing a variable in time, the students will be able to have enough hours for sleep when school starts an hour later.
Theory
By causing classes to start an hour later, less students will fall asleep in class, most especially in the morning as the issue of fatigue will be eradicated. This will allow them to be alert all day long.
Hypothesis
Between 9.00 am and 1.00 pm, very few students will sleep during class as a result of not getting enough sleep. Some students will doze off during the afternoon classes.
Results
5% of students were observed to doze off during morning classes and 10% were observed to fall asleep during afternoon classes.
Discussion
The decrease in number of students who fall asleep during morning classes is due to the increase in the amount of time of sleep, hence sleep deprivation is eradicated, which is also applicable for the afternoon classes where only a few students feel tired.
References
Lahey, J. (2014, August). Students Aren’t Getting Enough Sleep- School Starts Too Early. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/04/08/surprise-students-arent-getting-enough-sleep/379020/
News Express of India. (2015, November). Reasons why Students Sleep in Classes. Retrieved from http://www.aapkatimes.com/reasons-why-students-sleep-in-classes/
Zuckerman, D. (n.d.). Early Morning Classes, Sleepy Students, and Risky Behaviors. National Center for Health Research. Retrieved from https://center4research.org/child-teen-health/early-morning-classes-sleepy-students-and-riskybehaviors/
