Sleep Management: A Frontier for Improved Academic Performance

Abstract

Student safety, both in driving and academic performance, depends on successful sleep management. Usually driving and learning through lectures and reading are passive or low stimulation activities. Therefore, they are highly sensitive to the accumulation of sleep debt. In November 2002 on Channel 11 News in Lubbock, Texas, it was reported that driving with 18 hours of sleep debt was equal to driving with 0.05 percent blood alcohol. The authors of this paper have developed a web-based interactive human performance sleep simulation model that considers inputs of sleep, alcohol, and caffeine to predict both active and passive performance efficiencies. A direct application can be made to predict active and passive learning. This simulation tool predicted a drop of about 55 percent in passive performance efficiency for both 0.05 percent blood alcohol and 18 hours of sleep debt. The simulation gives an 80 percent drop in efficiency for the combination of 0.05 percent blood alcohol and 18 hours of sleep debt. This paper will include information about the development and use of this model to improve student academic performance.