Quality and Duration of Sleep: An Intervention in Memory and Academic Performance of Selected Grade 11 Students

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Sleep is jeopardized due to alienating factors such as work demands, late bedtime habits, illnesses and other interrupting activities which specifically target the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep stage where deep sleep occurs, the most essential among 3 other sleep stages as it is where memory and information strongly consolidates. Howbeit, sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality are particularly prominent in young adult and high (14-17) students of today's generation. Corollary to this, the researcher sought to determine the association of quality and duration of sleep as an intervention in memory development and academic performance of QGHS Grade 11 students.

METHODS

Mix Research Design was employed in the study with cluster quota sampling for selecting the 5 participants in each section. Consequently, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was administered to determine the sleep quality and sleep duration categorizing the participants on either "good" or "poor" sleeper. Then guided interview questionnaire was conducted to gather responses from 18 respondents with the categorized sleep groups and responses were treated with thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Results show that for a good sleeper, sleeping plays a vital role to their growth and development. It serves as a mental capacity enhancer and serves as students’ performance improver. Its long effect includes mental ability enhancer and it improves productivity. On the other hand, poor sleepers have deterioration on thinking ability and it even degrades performances. On its effect to the academic performance, it leads to poor grades and lesser in participation.

DISCUSSIONS

The discovered roles of good quality and duration of sleep in memory and academic performance under Good and Poor sleeper groups in this study agrees with the Harvin Academy (2017) publication which has indicated sleep's significant roles in a student's life. Conversely, attaining poor sleeping habits and inadequate sleep makes cognitive performance susceptible, interfering with the function of brain structures critical to cognitive processes, leading to depletion of cognitive processing such as slowed alertness and impairs attention Zeek et.al (2015). In terms of how poor or good sleep affect memory and academic performance, findings supplements with current literature about sleep, that it helps consolidates memory. Nonetheless, codified responses, anyhow, still shows similarities as with foreign studies unravelling factors affecting sleep of adolescent students.