Morningness-eveningness preferences and academic achievement of university students

Abstract

The present study investigates whether the circadian preferences of students are related to their academic achievements. This study explores whether different class times affect students' achievement and examines the performance of students on final exams administered at 09:30 h for differences according to chronotype. A total of 1471 university students between 18 and 25 yrs of age responded to a morningness-eveningness questionnaire (MEQ), and data on their cumulative grade point averages (CGPA) were also collected from their transcripts. Some of the students in the sample attended classes during the first teaching period, which started at 08:00 h and ended at 14:50 h, and the remaining students followed the second schedule, which started at 15:00 h and ended at 21:50 h. MEQ scores were found to differ by sex. MEQ scores partially predicted academic success and that students' academic achievements differed according to the time of the teaching period. Moreover, final exam (administered at 09:30 h) scores differed with respect to their circadian preferences; students with a morning preference achieved higher scores than either those with an evening or intermediate preference. Both teaching and test start times thus impact academic performance.