SINGAPORE — University students in Singapore could learn better and get better grades if their classes started later in the day instead of early morning, researchers suggested.

By analysing data from 39,458 undergraduates at the National University of Singapore (NUS), a team from Duke-NUS Medical School found that early morning classes were associated with lower grades and attendance. 

In response to the researchers’ findings, several undergraduates who spoke to TODAY and who did not take part in the study gave mixed responses. Some agreed that it was difficult to concentrate during early morning classes, while others preferred to start at that time because it made them feel more productive. 

WHY IT MATTERS

The problem of sleep deprivation among Singaporeans has been in the news several times. 

A 2018 survey by market research firm Wakefield Research found that Singaporeans were the second-most sleep-deprived people, with 62 per cent stating that they were not getting enough sleep.

The digital age, people spending longer time on mobile devices and artificial light exposure as well as other lifestyle-related behaviour have also affected the amount of quality sleep young people get. 

There have also been calls by experts and Members of Parliament for schools to start later, but these typically pertain to students in secondary or primary schools rather than university students. 

The Duke-NUS paper stated that inadequate sleep impairs attention and memory processes. Moreover, feeling tired and oversleeping were frequently given as reasons why students skip classes.

“Effects of absenteeism and presenteeism on grades may have long-term consequences on students’ employment opportunities, job performance ratings and salary.

“Therefore, universities should adopt practices that improve students’ attendance rates and sleep behaviour to position them to succeed in the classroom and workforce,” the report added.

HOW MORNING CLASSES AFFECT GRADES 

The Duke-NUS researchers used new methods that allowed large-scale monitoring of class attendance and sleep behaviour by analysing students’ classroom Wi-Fi connection data and what time they used their digital learning platforms. 

The Wi-Fi connection logs of 23,391 out of the 39,458 students surveyed showed that lecture attendance was about 10 percentage points lower for classes that started at 8am compared with later classes. 

The researchers also found that students who did not take any morning classes had a higher grade point average, through an analysis of 33,818 students taking the same amount of workload. 

Students with no morning classes had a median grade point average of more than four, while those with one or two days of morning classes had a median grade point average of about four.

Those with more than two days of morning classes performed worse, with a median of below four.

Associate Professor Joshua Gooley from Duke-NUS’ Neuroscience & Behavioural Disorders Programme, one of the researchers for this study, said: “The take-home message from our study is that universities should reconsider mandatory early morning classes.” 

The classes are mandatory in the sense that students have to take part in discussions during class time as part of grading requirements.

HOW SLEEP IS AFFECTED

On the possible reasons for the correlation between morning classes and grades, Assoc Prof Gooley told TODAY that the cumulative effects of having several morning classes a week could result in a “build-up of sleep loss”. 

This sleep loss could then affect students’ cognitive performance, making it difficult for them to absorb or process information. 

Although he noted that students did try to sleep earlier when they had morning classes the next day, their bedtimes “didn’t change very much”. 

“Even though they went to bed about half an hour earlier when they had 8am classes, they woke up much earlier than they otherwise would,” he said. 

This resulted in students losing about an hour of sleep overall when they attended morning classes, the study found. 

Another reason could be due to students missing classes, Assoc Prof Gooley said. 

The study found that students did not wake up in time for nearly one-third of the classes that took place at 8am, whereas they rarely slept past the start of classes that began at noon or later.

These could affect their grades since being present in class for discussions counts towards their grades. 

WHAT UNDERGRADUATES SAY 

Mr Jared Kwang, a 24-year-old student from the Singapore University of Social Sciences, agreed with the study’s findings, saying that he finds it harder to concentrate when he is not “fully awake” during classes that typically start around 8.30am. 

“Especially if the content of the class is heavy, I can feel myself zoning out and not understanding things compared to when the class starts later.”

Although he tries to sleep early when he has a morning class the next day, Mr Kwang said that he tends to get distracted by social media and goes to bed later than he intended to, usually around 1am. 

On the other hand, Ms Nathalie Evangelia D’Souza from the Singapore Management University said that she feels most alert in the morning. 

“I arrange my classes in the morning half so that I can concentrate better.”

The 24-year-old usually sleeps at 10pm and wakes up at 5am every day. 

Agreeing, Chelsea Tan, 23, an NUS student, said that she prefers early classes because she feels more awake and productive. 

She had performed better academically when taking a morning class, though the content and lecturer’s teaching style also played a big role. 

However, Ms Tan said that the earliest classes she would choose are those that start at 9am, because the 8am ones are simply “too early”. 

“If I have an 8am class, it would mean that I have to wake up at 6.40am, which is too early for me and I will feel very tired,” she added. 

WHAT IS THE PROPOSED SOLUTION

Assoc Prof Gooley told TODAY that the ideal time for lessons to start would be 10am in order to avoid “scheduling conflicts” among various classes. 

In terms of scheduling practices, universities should look at whether there are gaps where early morning classes can be shifted to better time periods. 

He added that while collecting data for the research, the Wi-Fi connection data allowed the team to also check which lecture halls were vacant. 

“In reality, there’s a lot of unused space at any given time on NUS campus and if we started looking beyond our own departments, we might be able to start filling these spots instead of using the early morning time,” he said. 

On whether primary and secondary school students could benefit from later classes, Assoc Prof Gooley said that the older students would benefit more. 

This is because younger children already tend to sleep earlier due to their biological clocks.

On the other hand, as children grow older, there is a gradual delay of the circadian rhythm and they tend to sleep later.