Are Certain Subjects More Sensitive to Sleep Deprivation? A Comparative Study of STEM and Humanities Memory Recall
Advisor: Mr. Head and Ms. House
Do you ever find yourself contemplating late at night whether to study for your math test or vocab quiz? Does pulling an all-nighter hurt your math grade more than your English grade? Perhaps there is a reason for this. Sleep is a fundamental biological process essential for memory consolidation, learning, and cognitive performance. Yet, nearly 88% of students are chronically sleep deprived, with many reporting fewer than six hours of sleep and nearly 20% engaging in all-nighters. Sleep deprivation can lead to exhaustion, anxiety, depression, a weakened immune system, memory loss, and poor academic performance. Emerging findings suggest that STEM subjects may be more sensitive to sleep loss than Humanities subjects. Because a consensus remains limited, and few studies directly compare subject-specific memory performance, this project investigates whether sleep deprivation affects academic subjects differently. To address this gap, my project will employ a mixed-methods approach combining survey data with secondary data analysis. Surveys will assess sleep habits, weekend “catch-up” sleep, academic workload, and subject-specific motivation, directly addressing key variables. This project aims to clarify how sleep disproportionately affects certain subjects and actions that can be taken to address this. My findings will inform school scheduling policies, homework expectations, sleep hygiene, and study habits.
Project Blog
Week 0: Introduction
Hi everyone, I am Nate, and I want to welcome you to my Week 0 Senior Project blog. I have attended Basis Independent Brooklyn since 9th grade. Over the past few years, I would often find myself tossing and turning in my bed until 2-3 AM. Every day, I would arrive at school exhausted and irritable, in addition to finding myself struggling to pay attention in class. On one sleepless night, I finally decided to Google why I couldn’t fall asleep. I quickly fell into a rabbit hole and began to realize how common, yet severe, my condition was. So last summer, I wrote and published a research paper linking sleep deprivation to glioblastoma (a fatal form of brain cancer) progression, linking two personal experiences. When brainstorming for my Senior Project, I decided to address another major effect of sleep deprivation: declining academic performance. Well, that’s enough about me. Let me tell you about my research topic and Senior Project.
Significance of the Topic and Prior Research
According to the National Sleep Foundation’s recommendations, adolescents aged 14−17 years should ideally sleep 8−10 hours per night (Wang et al., 2025; Garcia et al., 2023). However, around 88% of students are sleep-deprived and often sleep for less than 6 hours a day due to social media, video games, homework, and stress (Garcia et al., 2023; Perez-Lloret et al., 2013; Cousin et al., 2019). Sleep is an essential process for growth, learning, and memory consolidation (Curcio et al., 2006; Banks and Dinges, 2007; Garcia et al., 2023), and sleep deprivation has been linked to a weakened immune system and an increased risk of anxiety, depression, car accidents, obesity, death, and my project’s focus decreased academic performance (Garcia et al., 2023; Perez-Lloret et al., 2013; Banks and Dinges, 2007; Curcio et al., 2006; Tantawy et al., 2013). Growing research has found that sleep significantly influences adolescent academic performance, but a consensus on subject-specific recall has not been found. Specifically, the impacts of sleep deprivation may not affect the recall of different subjects the same way. While STEM subjects are reliant on problem-solving, logical reasoning, and inferential skills, humanities subjects rely on long-term accumulation (Wang et al., 2025).
Senior Project Specifics
Due to this gap, I aim to answer the research question: How is memory consolidation affected by sleep deprivation and motivational factors in college students, and do these relationships differ between STEM and humanities material? I would also like to thank my faculty advisors, Mr. Head and Ms. House, who will assist me in this process. For additional details, I invite you to read my Senior Project Proposal here.
As of this blog post, I have not secured an on-site placement, but I am working hard on finding one. Ideally, I hope to intern at a sleep research center or academic research center. To answer my research question, my project will employ a mixed-methods approach combining survey data with secondary data analysis.
Future Plans
In week 1, I will begin my in-depth literature review, analyzing the following texts:
The neurocognitive consequences of sleep restriction: a meta-analytic review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.07.010
The effect of sleep deprivation on adolescent learning and memory. https://multieducationjournal.com/assets/archives/2023/vol8issue4/10019.pdf
Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college students https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S62907
Irregular sleep/wake patterns are associated with poorer academic performance and delayed circadian and sleep/wake timing https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03171-4
Thank you for reading my blog, and I hope to see you next week!
Sources
Banks, S., & Dinges, D. F. (2007). Behavioral and physiological consequences of sleep restriction. Journal of clinical sleep medicine, 3(5), 519-528. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.26918
Cousins, J. N., & Fernández, G. (2019). The impact of sleep deprivation on declarative memory. Progress in brain research, 246, 27-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2019.01.007
Curcio, G., Ferrara, M., & De Gennaro, L. (2006). Sleep loss, learning capacity and academic performance. Sleep medicine reviews, 10(5), 323-337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2005.11.001
Garcia, G. L., Recio, A. B., Ilagan, M., Escueta, H. G., Morales, Z. D., & Torres, N. (2023). The relationship of sleep hours on the academic performance and classroom participation of senior high school students. Edukasiana J Educ Innov, 2, 222-36. https://doi.org/10.56916/EJIP.V2I3.409
Perez-Lloret, S., Videla, A. J., Richaudeau, A., Vigo, D., Rossi, M., Cardinali, D. P., & Perez-Chada, D. (2013). A multi-step pathway connecting short sleep duration to daytime somnolence, reduced attention, and poor academic performance: an exploratory cross-sectional study in teenagers. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 9(5), 469-473. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.2668
Tantawy, A. O., Tallawy, H. N. E., Farghaly, H. R., Farghaly, W. M., & Hussein, A. S. (2013). Impact of nocturnal sleep deprivation on declarative memory retrieval in students at an orphanage: a psychoneuroradiological study. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 403-408. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S38905
Wang, M., Chen, Z., Han, N., & Yao, H. (2025). Sleep duration and subject-specific academic performance among adolescents in China. npj Science of Learning, 10(1), 71. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00361-y
Week 1: Why You Need Those Eight Hours of Sleep
Welcome back to my blog. I hope you enjoyed my week 0 introduction blog. To recap, my project aims to investigate how sleep deprivation affects memory consolidation differently in STEM and humanities classes. However, before I could connect sleep deprivation to subject-specific memory recall, I had to research the association between sleep deprivation and memory consolidation.
But first, I have good news. After months of searching, I have finally secured an on-site placement. I am proud to announce that I will be working with Dr. Janice Lau at Brooklyn Heights Pediatric Dentistry. Although she is primarily a dentist, Dr. Lau has experience with sleep conditions, specifically airway pathways and sleep medicine. She will provide invaluable guidance in my research and design process. In future weeks, I hope to assist with sleep tests and analyze sleep monitor data relating to the stages of sleep.
This week, I began reading my course texts, with a specific aim to understand the biological and neurological processes linking sleep deprivation to impaired memory consolidation. Specifically, this week I read: "The neurocognitive consequences of sleep restriction," by Cassandra Lowe (2017), "The effect of sleep deprivation on adolescent learning and memory," by Satyavah Dwivedi (2023), "Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college students," by Shelley Hershner (2014), "Irregular sleep/wake patterns are associated with poorer academic performance and delayed circadian and sleep/wake timing," by Andrew Phillips (2017), "Behavioral and physiological consequences of sleep restriction," by Siobhan Banks (2007), and "System consolidation of memory during sleep," by Jan Born (2011).
To summarize the key findings, sleep is essential for brain function as it supports memory consolidation, attention, and executive functioning (Lowe et al., 2017). Of these functions, sleep deprivation impairs sustained attention and long-term memory the most, which can explain zoning out in class and forgetting studied material over time (Dwivedi, 2023). Furthermore, memory is dependent on the stage of sleep, including slow wave sleep (strengthening knowledge) and REM sleep (supporting skills and emotional memory) (Lowe et al., 2017). This is especially detrimental to teenagers as their circadian rhythms (biological clocks) are set later in the evening, preventing earlier bedtimes (Hershner & Chervin, 2014). Sleep deprivation can also lead to obesity, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, and reduced glucose tolerance (Phillips et al., 2017). Some interesting facts I learned were that sleep deprivation-related car accidents have fatality rates comparable to alcohol-related crashes. And that each hour of lost sleep can drop grades by ~.21 GPA (Lowe et al., 2017; Dwivedi, 2023).
Next week, I will be diving deeper into the link between sleep deprivation and academic outcomes and the effectiveness of sleep recovery. While this week's research established the association between sleep deprivation and impaired memory consolidation, next week's texts will complete this multi-step link connecting memory consolidation to academic outcomes and potential solutions.
References:
Banks, S., & Dinges, D. F. (2007). Behavioral and physiological consequences of sleep restriction. Journal of clinical sleep medicine, 3(5), 519-528. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.26918
Born, J., & Wilhelm, I. (2012). System consolidation of memory during sleep. Psychological research, 76(2), 192-203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-011-0335-6
Dwivedi, S. (2023). The effect of sleep deprivation on adolescent learning and memory. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Education and Research, 2455-4588. https://multieducationjournal.com/assets/archives/2023/vol8issue4/10019.pdf
Hershner, S. D., & Chervin, R. D. (2014). Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college students. Nature and science of sleep, 73-84. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S62907
Lowe, C. J., Safati, A., & Hall, P. A. (2017). The neurocognitive consequences of sleep restriction: a meta-analytic review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 80, 586-604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.07.010
Phillips, A. J., Clerx, W. M., O’Brien, C. S., Sano, A., Barger, L. K., Picard, R. W., ... & Czeisler, C. A. (2017). Irregular sleep/wake patterns are associated with poorer academic performance and delayed circadian and sleep/wake timing. Scientific reports, 7(1), 3216. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03171-4
Week 2: How Sleep Shapes Academic Success
I want to welcome you back to my blog. I hope you enjoyed my week 1 blog. To recap, last week I began reading my course texts, focusing on the association between sleep deprivation and memory consolidation. I began to understand the structures of the brain and neural processes that facilitate memory consolidation and are directly impacted by sleep deprivation.
This week, I continued reading my course texts, with a specific goal to understand the biological processes and social factors connecting impaired memory consolidation to academic performance. Hence, this week’s research will close the loop, completing the multi-step link connecting memory consolidation to academic outcomes and potential solutions, in particular, the effectiveness of recovery sleep.
This week key I read “Impact of multi-night experimentally induced short sleep on adolescent performance in a simulated classroom,” by Dean Beebe (2017), “Free recall of word lists under total sleep deprivation and after recovery sleep,” by Gislaine de Almeida (2012), “The influence of sleep quality, sleep duration and sleepiness on school performance in children and adolescents,” by Julia Dewald (2010), “The relationship of sleep hours on the academic performance and classroom participation of senior high school students,” by Ghian Garcia (2023), “A multi-step pathway connecting short sleep duration to daytime somnolence, reduced attention, and poor academic performance: an exploratory cross-sectional study in teenagers,” by Santiago Perez-Lloret (2013), and “Sleep duration and subject-specific academic performance among adolescents in China,” by Maohua Wang (2025). The full list of course texts I read this week is linked in the reference section of this post.
To summarize my key findings this week, sleep strengthens long-term memory through temporary storage in the hippocampus before being transferred to the neocortex for long-term storage (Born & Wilhelm, 2012). Interestingly, not all memories are treated equally; your brain prioritizes encoding information that is important for future goals (Born & Wilhelm, 2012). Some notable statistics are that 45% of adolescents get less than 8 hours of sleep, and nearly 40% get less than 7 hours (Dewald et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2025). Furthermore, sleep-deprived students are twice as likely to fail compared to adequately rested students (Perez-Lloret et al., 2013). Current research on subject-specific sensitivities to sleep deprivation suggests that math and science performance may decline more significantly due to high-level reasoning and problem-solving requirements (Wang et al., 2025). Another key aspect of my project involves investigating the relationship between recovery sleep and academic performance. The current literature has produced mixed results, with some studies arguing that it can enhance memory, while other experts suggest irregular sleep patterns due to longer weekend sleep duration are associated with lower academic outcomes (Cunningham et al., 2025).
In week 3, I will begin developing my survey, which will serve as my main method of data collection. I plan to collect data from college students (ages 18-20), assessing subject-specific sleep duration, sleep habits, sleep consistency, weekend sleep recovery, and academic recall in STEM and Humanities courses. In week 3, I will also begin conducting secondary data analysis on datasets involving academic recall tasks, including quizzes and memory assessments, to compare recall ability across subjects. I will be looking into the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, National Sleep Research Resource (NSRR), and ANPHY Sleep Database, among others, to supplement survey responses. I hope to see you return to my blog in week 3!
References:
Beebe, D. W., Field, J., Miller, L. E., & LeBlond, E. (2017). Impact of multi-night experimentally induced short sleep on adolescent performance in a simulated classroom. Sleep, 40(2), zsw035. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsw035
Born, J., & Wilhelm, I. (2012). System consolidation of memory during sleep. Psychological research, 76(2), 192-203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-011-0335-6
Cunningham, T., Denis, D., Bottary, R., Kensinger, E., Zeng, S., & Stickgold, R. (2024). 0052 Recovery Nap After Total Sleep Deprivation Restores Emotional Memory Performance to Typically-Rested Levels. Sleep, 47(Supplement_1), A24-A24. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsae067.0052
de Almeida Valverde Zanini, G., Tufik, S., Andersen, M. L., da Silva, R. C. M., Bueno, O. F. A., Rodrigues, C. C., & Pompeia, S. (2012). Free recall of word lists under total sleep deprivation and after recovery sleep. Sleep, 35(2), 223-230. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.1626
Dewald, J. F., Meijer, A. M., Oort, F. J., Kerkhof, G. A., & Bögels, S. M. (2010). The influence of sleep quality, sleep duration and sleepiness on school performance in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic review. Sleep medicine reviews, 14(3), 179-189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2009.10.004
Garcia, G. L., Recio, A. B., Ilagan, M., Escueta, H. G., Morales, Z. D., & Torres, N. (2023). The relationship of sleep hours on the academic performance and classroom participation of senior high school students. Edukasiana J Educ Innov, 2, 222-36. 10.56916/ejip.v2i3.409
Leak, R. K., Weiner, S. L., Chandwani, M. N., & Rhodes, D. C. (2020). Long weekend sleep is linked to stronger academic performance in male but not female pharmacy students. Advances in physiology education, 44(3), 350-357. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00005.2020
Lin, C. T., Liang, S. F., & Shaw, F. Z. (2025). Better sleep is associated with higher academic performance from an actigraphy-based analysis of sleep consistency and grades in college students. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-33775-0
Perez-Lloret, S., Videla, A. J., Richaudeau, A., Vigo, D., Rossi, M., Cardinali, D. P., & Perez-Chada, D. (2013). A multi-step pathway connecting short sleep duration to daytime somnolence, reduced attention, and poor academic performance: an exploratory cross-sectional study in teenagers. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 9(5), 469-473. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.2668
Seoane, H. A., Moschetto, L., Orliacq, F., Orliacq, J., Serrano, E., Cazenave, M. I., ... & Perez-Lloret, S. (2020). Sleep disruption in medicine students and its relationship with impaired academic performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep medicine reviews, 53, 101333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2020.101333
Tantawy, A. O., Tallawy, H. N. E., Farghaly, H. R., Farghaly, W. M., & Hussein, A. S. (2013). Impact of nocturnal sleep deprivation on declarative memory retrieval in students at an orphanage: a psychoneuroradiological study. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 403-408. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S38905
Wang, M., Chen, Z., Han, N., & Yao, H. (2025). Sleep duration and subject-specific academic performance among adolescents in China. npj Science of Learning, 10(1), 71. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00361-y
Waterhouse, J., Atkinson, G., Edwards, B., & Reilly, T. (2007). The role of a short post-lunch nap in improving cognitive, motor, and sprint performance in participants with partial sleep deprivation. Journal of sports sciences, 25(14), 1557-1566. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410701244983
Week 3: Writing and Changing Course
Welcome back to my blog. It has been a while since my last post, so I will begin with a brief recap. In week 2, I finished reading my course texts and closed the loop connecting memory consolidation to academic outcomes. Additionally, I read about potential solutions to the adolescent sleep deprivation crisis, including weekend recovery sleep and later school start times.
This week, I completed the first drafts of my introduction and literature review. Some key subsections include: The Prevalence and Consequences of Sleep Deprivation, The Stages of Sleep and Key Brain Structures, Types of Memory, Academic Performance, and Recovery Sleep. Some key points from my introduction and literature review are:
-Around 73% of high school students are sleep-deprived (Garcia et al., 2023; Hershner and Chervin, 2014)
-Some causes of sleep deprivation include: delayed circadian/biological clocks during puberty, early school start times, academic pressure, technology use, and sleep disorders (affects around 27% of students) (Banks and Dinges, 2007; Wang et al., 2025; Dewald et al., 2010).
-Sleep helps move memories from the Hippocampus (short-term storage) to the Neocortex (long-term storage) (Born and Wilhelm, 2012; Seoane et al., 2020).
-Non Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep (specifically, slow wave sleep) strengthens declarative memory, while REM sleep enhances emotional and procedural memory and creativity (Seoane et al., 2020; Cunningham et al., 2025)
-Potential solutions include delaying school start times and promoting sleep hygiene (Hershner and Chervin, 2014; Dewald et al., 2010).
-Key research gaps include exploring subject-specific impacts and the effects of recovery sleep (Lowe et al., 2017; Lin et al., 2025).
This week, I also began developing my surveys. In addition to creating targeted questions, I am also currently planning distribution methods. Some sample questions include:
-What grade level are you currently in?
-On average, how many hours of sleep do you get on weeknights (Sunday-Thursday)?
-On average, how many extra hours of sleep do you get on weekends compared to weekdays?
-In your opinion, does sleep affect your ability to learn or remember STEM or Humanities material more?
I will begin collecting survey results next week. If you are interested, I will include the Google Form link in next week's blog post. Furthermore, I have decided to pivot away from conducting secondary data analysis and instead administer a memory-based test measuring STEM and Humanities material recall. This method would better align with my research question and potentially lead to more significant results. I am also considering expanding my sample to adolescents (ages 13-19) as a whole, rather than just college students, to gain additional responses.
In week 4, I will begin collecting survey responses and finalize details around memory test administration. I hope to see you soon!
References:
Banks, S., & Dinges, D. F. (2007). Behavioral and physiological consequences of sleep restriction. Journal of clinical sleep medicine, 3(5), 519-528. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.26918
Born, J., & Wilhelm, I. (2012). System consolidation of memory during sleep. Psychological research, 76(2), 192-203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-011-0335-6
Cunningham, T. J., Denis, D., Zeng, S., Bottary, R., Kensinger, E. A., & Stickgold, R. (2026). Recovery sleep after total sleep deprivation preserves neutral and enhances emotional declarative memory. SLEEP Advances, 7(1), zpaf093.10.1093/sleepadvances/zpaf093
Dewald, J. F., Meijer, A. M., Oort, F. J., Kerkhof, G. A., & Bögels, S. M. (2010). The influence of sleep quality, sleep duration and sleepiness on school performance in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic review. Sleep medicine reviews, 14(3), 179-189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2009.10.004
Garcia, G. L., Recio, A. B., Ilagan, M., Escueta, H. G., Morales, Z. D., & Torres, N. (2023). The relationship of sleep hours on the academic performance and classroom participation of senior high school students. Edukasiana J Educ Innov, 2, 222-36. 10.56916/ejip.v2i3.409
Hershner, S. D., & Chervin, R. D. (2014). Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college students. Nature and science of sleep, 73-84. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S62907
Lin, C. T., Liang, S. F., & Shaw, F. Z. (2025). Better sleep is associated with higher academic performance from an actigraphy-based analysis of sleep consistency and grades in college students. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-33775-0
Lowe, C. J., Safati, A., & Hall, P. A. (2017). The neurocognitive consequences of sleep restriction: a meta-analytic review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 80, 586-604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.07.010
Seoane, H. A., Moschetto, L., Orliacq, F., Orliacq, J., Serrano, E., Cazenave, M. I., ... & Perez-Lloret, S. (2020). Sleep disruption in medicine students and its relationship with impaired academic performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep medicine reviews, 53, 101333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2020.101333
Wang, M., Chen, Z., Han, N., & Yao, H. (2025). Sleep duration and subject-specific academic performance among adolescents in China. npj Science of Learning, 10(1), 71. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00361-y
Week 4: Data Collection
Welcome back to my blog. I spent the majority of this week developing and executing my methods. This included planning survey distribution, developing my subject-specific memory assessment, and reaching out to college professors. But first, I will briefly recap week 3. Last week, I completed the first drafts of my introduction and literature review; in fact, I incorporated many of the research gaps into my survey, including questions about the effectiveness of recovery sleep and the perceived effects of sleep deprivation across subjects.
This week, I began distributing my surveys online to receive responses from older populations (18-25). Furthermore, I began researching college professors in the fields of psychology and neuroscience to request that they distribute my survey to college students, and I am hoping to send out emails next week. I am currently working on getting approval to survey minors. If you are over the age of 18, interested in my topic, and would like to participate in my research study, please complete this survey: https://forms.gle/7Q8kaS8CVJ6CrK9Y7. It would also be greatly appreciated if you could share this survey with anybody aged 18 and over.
In conjunction with my survey, I began designing a short digital memory assessment aimed at measuring recall levels across subjects. This assessment will take place over two days and will require a total participation time of 15 minutes. I created separate question sets for middle schoolers, high schoolers, and college students in order to address knowledge gaps. Some sample topics tested include: photosynthesis, kinematics, and derivatives. Specifically, I took questions from AP Exams, NY State standardized tests, and the SAT.
In week 5, I will begin administering my memory tests and continue collecting survey responses specifically targeting middle schoolers and High schoolers. I hope to see you next week!
Week 5: Surveys and Memory Assessments
Welcome back to my blog. We are officially halfway done! To briefly recap week 4, I began distributing my surveys online to receive responses from older populations (18-25) and researching college professors to administer my surveys. I also began creating my memory assessment, which I completed designing this week. This week, I began drafting my methods section of my paper and developed figures to assist with research design alignment and understanding. I also completed research on prospective professors and began drafting cold contact emails.
One of my major accomplishments this week was drafting my methods section of my final product. Key sections of my methods include an overview and justification of my overall method, operationalized variables, and individual sections breaking down my survey and memory test. Additionally, I designed flowcharts, figures, and tables to better explain the connection between research gaps and my research design. I am looking forward to sharing drafts of my paper with you in future blog posts.
This week, I completed the design of my memory recall assessment. This assessment will take place over two days and will require a total participation time of 15 minutes. The day one diagnostic test took a total of 10 minutes, with a 1-minute pre-administration questionnaire, a 4-minute encoding phase, a 1-minute distraction phase (to prevent short-term memory recall bias), and a 4-minute immediate recall phase. The day two test would resume the following day after a typical night of sleep. This follow-up test only included a 4-minute recall stage of the same material from day 1. Each participant will be presented with three STEM formulas, three STEM facts, three vocabulary words, three historical facts, and a short reading passage. I plan on emailing potential contacts and beginning test administration next week.
Because of the upcoming AP exams, I will not be able to make significant progress over the next two weeks. However, during this period, I will continue administering surveys and memory assessments and editing my intro, literature review, and methods section. I will then begin analyzing survey and test results in week 8. See you soon!
Weeks 6-7: Testing Season is in Full Swing
Welcome back to my blog. It has been a while since I last posted, and I would like to briefly recap week 5 and what I have been up to over the last two weeks. In week 5, I began drafting my methods section and began sending cold contact emails to college professors. Additionally, I completed my memory test design and distribution plan. Although my primary focus these past two weeks has been the AP exams, I did make progress on my senior project. Specifically, I began administering my memory assessments and sending out cold contact emails to professors. I also wrote another draft of my abstract.
In regard to my abstract. I rewrote the literature review summary, focusing on the significance of sleep deprivation and prevalence in adolescents. Furthermore, I added an updated description of my methods, providing emphasis on the shift from secondary data analysis to the memory recall assessment. Lastly, I added information on my remote onsite mentor, including her past experience with sleep research and why she would be helpful in this project. I will begin editing my literature review and methods section in addition to drafting my findings section in the coming weeks.
In week 6, I also began administering my memory recall assessment. Day one of this two-day assessment will test participants' baseline knowledge on various topics, including US/Global history, photosynthesis, kinematics, reading comprehension, chemical bonding, and derivatives.
Day two will assess how much of this information participants were able to recall. I collected average sleep durations at the beginning of the test, and hypothesized that the percentage of content recalled is directly correlated with sleep duration. As of this post, I have received 15 responses. If you would like to participate in this study, please follow the directions on this Google Form: https://forms.gle/EyPicDCr8JVVDmMv6. The memory assessment will remain open until mid next week (5/14).
I have also continued to collect survey responses through personal and cold contacts. As of this post, I have received 55 responses. If you are between 14 and 25, it would be greatly appreciated if you could take my survey: https://forms.gle/HRev4AH2Ex8vFRch7 (The survey will remain open until 5/12).
Next week, I will begin analyzing survey and memory assessment results and begin drafting the findings section of my final product. See you soon!
Week 8: Findings, Graphs, and Next Steps
Welcome back to my blog. As the AP exams are coming to a close, I can now prioritize working on the Senior Project, which will be helpful as the final presentations are coming up quickly. Before I dive into my progress this week, I would like to briefly recap the previous state of my project. In week 6, I began administering my memory assessments and creating another draft of my abstract. I also continued administering surveys. This week, I began analyzing survey and memory assessment results and created graphs to represent my findings.
In total, I received 62 survey responses from populations ranging from 5th grade to graduate school. I want to thank everyone who took part in this survey, whether I know you personally or not. I began analyzing my survey results by exporting data from Google Forms into a spreadsheet. I then grouped key variables together, including weeknight sleep duration and grades. Other examples include the level of STEM enjoyment and difficulty recalling STEM material. I then quantified all my data points through Likert Scales to make graphing easier. Lastly, I created scatterplots and pie charts from the data and drew preliminary conclusions.
Linked are two examples of my graphs. The first figure (a scatterplot) illustrates the negative association between weeknight sleep duration and the relative difficulty recalling STEM material. The second figure is a pie chart that summarizes the perceived relative impact of sleep deprivation on different subjects. The Association Between Weeknight Sleep Duration and Difficulty Recalling STEM Material; Which Subject is More Affected by Sleep Deprivation.
A full analysis of my findings will be included in next week's blog post. Similarly to survey responses, I received a total of 45 memory assessment results. While I am currently still analyzing results, preliminary findings suggest that STEM memory retention is more affected by sleep duration than Humanities retention. I will update you on the full results in a future blog post.
On this note, I will finalize memory assessment results next week. I will also begin drafting the findings, discussion, and conclusion sections, and revise all previously written sections of my final paper. See you next week!
Week 9: Creating My Final Product
Welcome back to my blog. We are officially in the final stretch of the Senior Project. Before I update you on my progress this week, I would like to briefly recap what I accomplished last week. In week 8, I closed my survey and memory recall assessments, receiving 62 and 40 responses, respectively. I want to thank everyone who participated in my studies. I then began analyzing my results and drew preliminary conclusions. This week, I finalized my results and completed a full draft of my final research paper.
To start, I revisited my introduction and literature review. Upon further inspection, I realized a lot of the content was either unnecessary, repetitive, or didn’t relate to my senior project. So, I began revising and trimming down these sections. Specifically, I removed content surrounding brain regions and stages of sleep, as my project focuses more on the real-world implications rather than the biological implications. I also refined my research to focus on 1) how sleep deprivation affects memory consolidation and academic recall, 2) whether STEM recall is more vulnerable to sleep deprivation than humanities recall, and 3) whether weekend recovery sleep influences academic memory performance.
Next, I rewrote my combined methods and findings section. For both the survey and memory recall assessment, I explained in detail every step I took. I will list some of my key findings below:
-Sleep deprivation was associated with increased fatigue and lower overall academic performance.
-Respondents more frequently identified STEM subjects as being more affected by sleep deprivation than humanities subjects.
-Motivation and subject preference were identified as important confounding variables influencing academic recall.
-Weekend recovery sleep showed a slight positive relationship with higher grades.
-The relationship between sleep duration and humanities test performance was significantly weaker than for STEM performance.
Finally, I will briefly summarize the implications and significance of my results. Most significantly, educational systems should reconsider how school schedules align with adolescent circadian rhythms. Specifically, schools should consider scheduling cognitively demanding STEM courses, exams, and assessments later in the day. Furthermore, weekend recovery sleep may partially improve cognitive functioning and academic performance.
In the final week of this senior project, I will design my final presentation and complete the final version of my research paper, following faculty advisor review. I hope to present my project soon. See you next week!
Week 10: Final Presentation Preparations
Welcome back to my blog. We have finally arrived at the final week of the Senior Project. It has truly been an interesting journey. Before I update you on my progress this week, I would like to briefly recap what I accomplished last week. In week 9, I finalized my results and completed a full draft of my final research paper. Specifically, I revised my introduction and literature review, rewrote my methods and findings sections, and drafted my discussion and conclusion sections. Furthermore, I began planning my final presentation. This week, I fully developed my final presentation and made final edits to my research paper.
I will briefly break down the key sections included in my presentation. First, I will explain why I chose my topic and the significance of my topic. As a sneak peek, I was drawn to the topic of sleep deprivation and academic performance due to personal struggles with insomnia and curiosity about memory decline. My presentation will then introduce my on-site advisor, Dr. Lau, and her contributions to my project, as well as what I learned from her. I then summarized my literature review and research gap, followed by a breakdown of my methods. My presentation will then explain key findings with a specific focus on subject-specific disparities and recovery sleep effectiveness. I will end by discussing limitations, future directions, and important takeaways. I am looking forward to sharing my research with all of you.
Additionally, this week, I made final revisions to my research paper. Specifically, I removed redundant ideas present throughout the literature review, the discussion, and the conclusion sections. I added additional figures and explanations to my methods and findings section to ensure clarity and cohesion. Lastly, I ensured that all facts were properly cited and attributed throughout the paper.
Because this will be my final weekly blog, you won’t hear from me until my concluding blog in two weeks. In this time, I will be preparing for my presentation rehearsal and final presentation. I will also submit my final product next week. Until then, I wish all my peers the best of luck as they also prepare for final presentations. I hope to see you soon!
Week 12: /Conclusion: Goodnight
Welcome back to my blog for the final time. This is really it, we have arrived at my concluding blog. I still can’t believe how fast time seems to fly. I wanted to update you on my progress over the last two weeks. I wanted to primarily inform you that I submitted my final research paper earlier this week, following advisor review.
I also completed my final presentation slides, which I will link here. As of this blog post, I have recently presented my final presentation at Shapeshifter Lab. I hope everyone who was able to attend learned something from my presentation, whether it was the importance of proper sleep hygiene or the differing effects of sleep deprivation on academic subjects. I hope I did a good job communicating my findings, research process, and where future studies can improve upon my work. I want to thank everyone again who attended my presentation, and I thoroughly enjoyed viewing my peers' presentations as well.
Returning full circle to my research question and hypothesis. My guiding question for my senior project involved investigating the relationship between sleep deprivation, memory consolidation, and academic performance, with a focus on the differences between STEM and Humanities subjects. I correctly hypothesized that STEM performance would be more affected, and that weekend recovery sleep would be partially effective. Across both the survey and memory recall assessment, STEM performance was significantly more correlated with sleep duration than humanities performance. Additionally, the memory test showed that STEM memory recall dropped significantly, while humanities remained constant. Furthermore, recovery sleep was moderately correlated with additional weekend sleep duration. That being said, future research should address the limitations of this study. Specifically, future studies should incorporate larger and more diverse samples, as well as use objective physiological sleep measurements (i.e., actigraphy watches and polysomnography).
Finally, I would like to summarize the lessons I learned from this senior project and my experience through my on-site placement. I concluded that major educational interventions are needed, including delayed school start times, weekend sleep recovery, sleep hygiene curricula incorporation, and rewritten schedules. At my on-site placement, I learned how to better communicate with patients, assist staff in essential office tasks, and analyze sleep data. Additionally, through my senior project, I strengthened my understanding of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, statistical analysis, and data interpretation.
I want to thank my faculty advisors, Mr. Head and Ms. House, and on-site advisor Dr. Jancie Lau, for their crucial roles in my Senior Project. And I want to lastly thank everyone who has been following my blog throughout this journey. I couldn’t have done it without your support. Signing off, Nate.