Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Out-Of-Class #1: Another Pretty Good Example


(name redacted)
JRN 200
10/15/14
Slug: Sleep Deprivation

According tojj dfjkdhjfkdfdf…

Fall asleep on your keyboard again?

Me too. NO FIRST PERSON REFERENCES OUTSIDE OF QUOTES, PER AP STYLE

If you are thinking it’s time for a nap, you are probably right.

Sleep experts say students with good sleeping habits generally get better grades and have higher levels of productivity and happiness as opposed to students who skimp on sleep for schoolwork.
DO WE HAVE DATA THAT SHOWS THE CORRELATION BETWEENHOURS OF SLEEP AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE? THIS WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO PUT SUCH DATA, AND WE NEED TO FIND SUCH DATA. PERHAPS OUR NEUTRAL EXPERTS OR GOOGLE CAN HELP US DO THAT.

Jennifer Grzegorek, a counseling psychologist at Michigan State University’s Counseling Center, said she has noticed that students view sleep deprivation as a sign of hard work and dedication.

“Students increasingly post on social media that they stayed up the entire previous night or only got a few hours of sleep, as though it’s something to brag about. That’s a problem,” said Grzegorek via email.

Caroline Cooke, a James Madison University psychology graduate and former sleep researcher, said sleep deprivation among college students is an epidemic and good sleeping habits, including daytime naps, are necessary to function optimally.
HOW MANY HOURS OF SLEEP DO COLLEGE STUDENTS AVERAGE? AND HOW DOES THAT COMPARE TO ADULTS IN GENERAL? SHOW ME THE DATA; DON’T JUST TELL ME THAT IT’S HAPPENING
Cooke said she established The Nap Nook at JMU in attempt to change negative attitudes associated with napping.   

According to The Nap Nook website, WEBSITE IS UPPER CASE, PER AP STYLE The Nap Nook is a quiet place on the university’s campus where students can reserve a beanbag to nap on for up to 40 minutes.

“The purpose of The Nap Nook was to abolish the negative stigmas associated with napping and to shift the cultural perspective on napping towards a healthier attitude,” said Cooke.
HOW FREQUENTLY IS IT USED? CAN WE TALK TO A NAP NOOK USER AND GET THEIR PERSPECTVE?

Cooke said napping has numerous benefits including improved memory, increased attention span and reduced stress levels.
AGAIN, CAN WE GET DATA TO SHOW THE EVIDENCE BEHIND COOKE’S CLAIM? SHOW ME THE NUMBERS; DON’T JUST TELL ME COOKE’S CONCLUSIONS
“Power naps are an effective and efficient way to boost performance as opposed to coffee and stimulants,” said Cooke.

According to Cooke, coffee alone is not a solution for sleep deprivation, however, a “coffee nap” in which you drink coffee and then take a short nap, is the best kind of nap. 
WHY? EXPLAIN
Cooke said, in order to avoid post-nap grogginess, naps should be no longer than 20-25 minutes.

“After that point in time you start to fall into deeper stages of sleep and so you will actually wake up groggy. It’s called sleep inertia. An object at rest tends to, well, stay at rest,” said Cooke.

Cooke said a nap as short as 10 minutes is effective in a time crunch.

MSU senior Brooke Merrill said she would appreciate a place like The Nap Nook at MSU but she would want to sleep for more than 10 minutes.

“If I have a large block of time I will take a nap, but I don’t usually have that,” said Merrill.
HOW MUCH TIME DOES SHE USUALLY HAVE? HOW MUCH ODES SHE USUALLY SLEEP? DOES SHE THINK THAT’S ENOUGH? WHY OR WHY NOT?
Grzegorek said students need to make time for sleep and it should be just as routine as their other responsibilities.

“Although it can be challenging for students to juggle school, homework, their social life, and maybe a job or other responsibilities, it’s very important to prioritize sleep. I suggest that students who are having trouble finding time to sleep actually put it on their schedules until it becomes routine,” said Grzegorek.

Cooke said students who struggle finding time to sleep should consider how much more productive they could be if they were fully rested and less likely to get distracted.

MSU freshman Jennifer Meyer said she finds herself mindlessly going on Facebook when she feels tired, spending about two hours on social media daily.

According to Cooke, when you don’t sleep enough, “You’re cognitively drained,” and “you’re not functioning as well. You find yourself back on these social media sites not really realizing why you’re back there again,” and “you’re not doing very productive work.”   
HOW MUCH DOES SHE SLEEP? DOES SHE THINK THAT’S ENOUGH? WHY OR WHY NOT?
MSU senior and swim team member Alexandria Merritt said she tries to make time for a daily nap but she occasionally stays up all night to finish assignments and study for exams at the last minute when she needs to.  

Merritt said she feels tired but does not call herself sleep deprived because she is “used to it by now.”
HOW MUCH DOES SHE SLEEP? DOES SHE THINK THAT’S ENOUGH? WHY OR WHY NOT?
Jeff Dyche, an associate professor of psychology at JMU, said he worries about students with poor sleeping habits. While he witnesses the affects of sleep deprivation on students in his classes, he said he worries more about how they are affected outside of class.
WHAT DOES HE SEE IN CLASS? PLEASE DETAIL.
In an email, Dyche said a lack of sleep can make students “more moody and this can impact personal relationships,” and “I worry about them driving cars to school in the morning as most fall asleep crashes occur in younger people and in the early hours of light.”

Dyche said he recommends eight-nine EIGHT TO NINE, STED EIGHT-NINE hours of sleep each night and “even well rested individuals benefit from a brief mid afternoon nap.”

Word Count: 753

Source List

Jeff Dyche – Ph.D.
Associate Professor at JMU
540-568-4965

Caroline Cooke
JMU Graduate and founder of The Nap Nook
417-800-2807

Jennifer L. Grzegorek, Ph.D.
Counseling Psychologist
JenG@cc.msu.edu
(517) 896-4231

Brooke Merrill
616-540-5346

Alexandria Merritt
517-442-2301

Jennifer Meyer
248-752-5312

The Nap Nook Website

ASSIGNMENT GRADE: (GRADE REDACTED)
INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS: A VERY CREATIVE, CONTEXTUAL LEDE AND GOOD OVERALL STRUCTRUE AND RANGE OF INTERVIEWS (THREE NEUTRAL EXPERTS!). BUT WHILE WE’RE HITTING THE MAIN POINTS, WE CAN DO BETTER WITH SUPPORTING POINTS. TO SUPPORT CLAIMS, WE NEED DATA BACKING IT UP. WHEN SOMEONE OFFERS THEIR EXPERIENCES, WE NEED TO MINE A SECOND LEVEL OF QUESTIONING; IF THEY TALK ABOUT SLEEP IN GENERAL, ASK THEM FOR SPECIFICS. FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS ARE KEY TO GETTING COMPLETE ANGLES. STILL, A NICE FOUNDATION WITH WHICH TO DO A BETTER JOB IN REWRITE.

1 comment:

  1. A nap nook is important for life. MSU needs to put their football money to better use and create a napping place.

    ReplyDelete