BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
I. Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought threats to people’s health, forcing many countries to lockdown and provinces and towns to undergo quarantine. During this period, face-to-face interactions are not allowed. Minored and senior citizens were advised by the authorities to stay at home to avoid the risks of contracting the virus. Because of this, establishments such as malls and schools are only allowed to open if and only if there would only be limited interactions among people and if people use personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and face shields. Since schools are not allowed to open yet, students are given a choice by their respective schools to continue their studies at home. Although it may sound easy, students and teachers could find this online school set-up hard since distractions at home, such as noise, are likely inevitable.
In this online school set-up, the teachers are to discuss lessons through virtual meetings using platforms such as Google Meet, Facebook Messenger, or Zoom. The students are given weekly requirements by the teachers and are encouraged to pass these by the end of the week so that their schoolwork would not pile up. Considering the distractions and other responsibilities at home, students may likely find this overwhelming or difficult or both. This sudden shift has brought anxiety for many teacher staff and students (Burrow et al., 2020).
Virtual learning does not necessarily mean that students have more time to answer and to study their modules and lessons. One problem that students are facing right now is time management. Although it may sound easy, not everyone could manage their time wisely since people face different situations and unexpected events happen, such as sudden power interruptions or times where the internet connection is just too slow.
The number of requirements done in a day may vary from one student to another because of these instances making their sleeping patterns differ too. The mentioned instances play a somehow significant role in a student’s productivity, especially now that learning is done by the students and the teachers virtually. These ideas inspired the researcher to determine the relationship of the amount of sleep to a student’s productivity when it comes to doing schoolwork.
II. Statement of the Objectives
This study generally aims to identify and document the relationship of a group of students’ amounts of sleep to their productivity.
Specifically, it aims to:
1. Identify what other factors aside from sleep affect the productivity of students;
2. Tally and get the average time that a group of students uses for their academic responsibilities; and
3. Tally and get the average amount of sleep that a group of students gets during this online school set-up.
III. Statement of the Problem
This study intends to investigate if the amount of sleep that a group of students gets affects their productivity in doing school requirements.
Specifically, it seeks to find answers to the following questions:
1. What other factors aside from sleep affect a student’s productivity?
2. How long does it take a student to do their academic responsibilities?
3. What is the daily amount of sleep that a student gets with this online school setup?
IV. Significance of the Study
This study may be deemed significant to the overall health of both teachers and students. The findings of this study aim not only in identifying the relationship of sleep to productivity but also in finding solutions and rooms for improvement in the current educational system used by most schools. Furthermore, this study may also give awareness to the audience about the current situation that schools, students, and teachers are facing.
REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES AND LITERATURE
The COVID-19 pandemic caused the abrupt shift from face-to-face learning to distance learning. Students and teachers find this shift too sudden and too overwhelming (Burrow et al., 2020). With this abrupt change in learning comes a change in the learning environment. A sudden change in the learning environment, together with other factors such as sleep, would cause changes in a student’s academic performance, whether it be minor or major. Sleep deprivation is one of the factors that affect the academic performance of students taking school online (Cort-Blackson, 2018). Previous studies show that there is a negative correlation relationship between sleep and academic behavior. Hence, the lack of sleep affects a student’s productivity and academic performance because this may cause drowsiness and lack of focus during online classes.
I. Online Learning
In online learning, classes take place on the internet using school websites and online platforms such as Google Meet and Facebook Messenger. The teachers give their students lessons and tasks and then collect them at an assigned date. This gives the students incredible flexibility since they get to choose when, where, and how they would be understanding these lessons and doing the given tasks (Stafford Global, 2020). Stern (n.d.) also defined online learning as education that takes place over the internet, which is also one type of distance learning.
With the presence of COVID-19, many schools and universities are online classes are conducted instead of face-to-face classes for safety purposes. Although it may sound easier than face-to-face classes, online classes require much more. Aside from having a stable internet connection and a gadget to use, motivation to succeed and self-discipline are also very much needed since students will mostly rely on themselves (Stern, n.d.).
With online learning and teaching being done mostly at the students’ and teachers’ respective homes, factors that affect this, such as problems in time management or unexpected events, cannot be avoided.
II. Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation, or the lack of sleep, is the term used to describe the state caused by the lack of sleep of an individual (Better Health Channel, n.d.). Students usually have tons of work to do, causing them to forget about the concept of time, especially when classes are online.
Better Health Channel recommends that teenagers or high school students get about 9 to 10 hours of sleep, but because of factors such as activities from online classes and the students’ responsibilities at home, this is usually not achieved.
Not achieving the recommended amount of sleep may shorten the students’ attention span, cause poor memory, reduced concentration, and the loss of motivation to do activities (Better Health Channel, n.d.). With these said effects comes changes and impacts to the students’ productivity at school.
III. Productivity
The productivity of students may vary from one another since there could be different causes. Productivity, according to Favour (2017), is the state of being efficient. It is how people maximize time by doing all the activities they could do at a specific period. For students, productivity affects their academic performance.
A change in the learning environment causes changes in the students’ productivity. For the students to maximize their productivity during online classes at home, they should learn how to manage their time wisely, assign a space where they would study, and avoid using social media if not needed, especially when they still have academic responsibilities to do (Heusted, 2020). Taking breaks between tasks and having enough sleep is also essential for the students to maximize their potentials and productivity in online classes.
The information presented talks about the relationship between the lack of sleep, also known as sleep deprivation, to the productivity of students during online classes. Online classes are implemented for safety purposes but having online classes while also having responsibilities at home may alter the amount of sleep. It shows that the recommended amount of sleep for high school students is between 9 to 10 hours. Sleeping for less than the recommended hours impacts the academic performance of a student. However, the said impact may vary from one student to another. Thus, this study helps in identifying the relationship between sleep and productivity of a group of Grade 11 scholars from Philippine Science High School – Cagayan Valley Campus.
METHODOLOGY
I. Type of Research
This case study is quantitative and qualitative. An online survey was given to fifteen (15) grade 11 scholars of Philippine Science High School – Cagayan Valley Campus S.Y. 2020 – 2021. An online interview was conducted with three (3) chosen grade 11 scholars through Zoom Meeting, an online platform.
II. Respondents
The respondents for the online survey were selected grade 11 scholars of Philippine Science High School – Cagayan Valley Campus S.Y. 2020 – 2021.
III. Research Environment
This case study was conducted within the premises of the researcher’s home, with the help of online platforms such as Zoom Meeting for data collection.
IV. Questionnaire
The questions for the interview were constructed for data collection and further analysis.
The questionnaires were distributed through the respondents’ e-mails.
V. Data Gathering Procedure
The researcher constructed several questions which helped with data collection. An incent form was sent to the selected grade 11 scholars.
Once incent was given to the researcher, the questionnaire was disseminated through the e-mails of the fifteen (15) grade 11 scholars and online one-on-one interviews were conducted with three (3) grade 11 scholars of Philippine Science High School – Cagayan Valley Campus.
After a certain period, the researcher collected the data gathered from google forms. The data was then interpreted by the researcher.
References :
Better Health Channel. (n.d.). Sleep Deprivation. Retrieved from https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/sleep-deprivation#:~:text=Sleep%20deprivation%20is%20a%20general,don’t%20get%20enough%20sleep
Burrow, M.S., Carvalho, L., & Green, J.K. (2020). Designing for Transition: Supporting Teachers and Students Cope with Emergency Remote Education. SpringerLink Postdigital Science and Education. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42438-020-00185-6
Cort-Blackson, M. (2018). The Effect of Sleep Deprivation on Online University Students’ Performance. Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/5547/
Eynon, R., Potter, J., & Williamson, B. (2020). Pandemic politics, pedagogies and practices: digital technologies and distance education during the coronavirus emergency. Taylor & Francis Online Learning, Media and Technology. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439884.2020.1761641
Favour, B. (2017). On Productivity as a Student. Retrieved from http://mystudyfocus.com/articles/on-productivity-as-a-student/#:~:text=The%20simple%20definition%20of%20productivity,which%20cannot%20be%20over%2Demphasized.&text=I%20scrutinized%20major%20things%20that,Focus%2C%20Plan%2C%20Preside
Heusted, P. (2020). How to be Productive in Online Classes. Retrieved from https://asreview.org/2020/04/09/how-to-be-productive-in-online-classes/
Stafford Global. (2020, January 22). What’s the Difference Between Online Learning and Distance Learning? Articles and Blogs | Online & Distance Learning UK Degrees. Retrieved from https://www.staffordglobal.org/articles-and-blogs/whats-the-difference-between-online-and-distance-learning/
Stern, J. (n.d.). Introduction to Online Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http://www.wlac.edu/online/documents/otl.pdf
World Health Organization. (2020). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public. World Health Organization Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public
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