Central Valley Region Interdisciplinary Symposium on Education Research

Research on K-12th grade students shows reduced performance in classes scheduled early in the morning if the student prefers to learn and work later in the day. Not much research has been done on undergraduate learners in the morning, nor research at either level on learning in the late evening-- like the Spring 2022 UC Merced Genetics course where some sections were scheduled to end as late as 9:20 pm. To understand the experiences and effects on performance for students in these courses, we compiled 143 survey responses querying student time-of-day learning preference, including free response questions about student experience at different times of day and with different course modalities (in-person vs remote instruction), from the 167-student Genetics course. We found that although students do have different time-of-day learning preferences, their overall exam grades were not affected by whether these preferences aligned with scheduled class time. However, asking open ended questions about the experiences that come with late evening classes elucidated important health, safety, and equity concerns that would be missed by looking at student performance alone. For example, students shared concerns about not having time to eat before the dining hall closes, being expected to wait on campus for several hours for their scheduled class time, being worried about late-night transportation accessibility, and with fear of being assaulted walking home past sunset. Additionally, students expressed that changing the course modality can offset some of the downsides of learning late at night, and students were significantly more likely to prefer sections in the early morning or late night if the courses were instructed remotely. Taken together, the responses indicate that these quality-of-life concerns might not be visible in their grade performance, but still represent an area in need of consideration and improvement for the sake of student's well-being.

Kris Troy, Graduate Student, UC Merced