9am lectures should be banned, says very important new research
Students are less productive early in the morning, so we should start at 11am instead
9am lectures should be banned and all lectures should begin after 11am says new research.
Researchers claim 9ams interfere with young adults’ body clocks meaning we’re more likely to underperform and find it harder to learn early in the morning.
The Open University and the University of Nevada’s study analysed the sleep patterns of 200 students and found academic performance was at its best between 11am and 9.30pm.
Paul Kelley, of The Open University, said: “Students do better if they can target their study time to align with their personal rhythm and at the time of day when they know they are most effective.”
He also said having to get up early could be linked to the rise in students’ mental health problems: “The temporal misalignment between the sleep timing shift and educational institutions’ usual hours causes significant sleep loss.
“Sleep loss, in turn, impairs academic performance and also elevates risks of obesity, depression, and drug abuse.”
Researchers have instead suggested that universities should aim to start lectures and seminars between 11am and 1pm, as these times would be close to optimal for the productivity of students.