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Lower school performance in late chronotypes: underlying factors and mechanisms
Giulia Zerbini1, Vincent van der Vinne2, Lana K M Otto3
1University of Groningen, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, Department of Neurobiology, Groningen, 9747AG, NL, The Netherlands. giulia.zerbini87@gmail.com.
Scientific Reports
|July 1, 2017
Summary
Student chronotype significantly impacts school performance, especially in scientific subjects. Late chronotypes, who are often absent more, perform worse, particularly with early exams.
Area of Science:
- Chronobiology
- Educational Psychology
- Sleep Science
Background:
- School success influences future career paths.
- Early school start times may disadvantage students with late chronotypes.
- The interplay of chronotype, sleep, and academic performance requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between chronotype and school grades.
- To determine how chronotype, sleep duration, and time of day affect academic performance.
- To analyze the impact of chronotype on performance in different academic subjects.
Main Methods:
- Collected 40,890 grades from a Dutch high school over one academic year.
- Analyzed the correlation between student chronotype and academic grades.
- Compared performance across various school subjects, distinguishing between fluid and crystallized intelligence domains.
Main Results:
- Chronotype significantly impacts grades, with a similar effect strength to absenteeism.
- Late chronotypes were more frequently absent and achieved lower grades.
- The grade difference between extreme chronotypes corresponds to a 12-percentile drop.
- A significant correlation between chronotype and grades was found in scientific subjects, but not in humanistic/linguistic subjects.
Conclusions:
- Late chronotypes are disadvantaged in scientific subjects and early morning exams.
- Chronotype is a significant factor in academic achievement, comparable to absenteeism.
- Educational strategies should consider student chronotypes to ensure equitable performance opportunities.
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