成績不好的學生又有新借口了：學校的作息時間表或許與他們的生物鍾並不匹配。
新研究表明，生物鍾對學生的學業表現有著巨大的影響。有的學生是夜行性的貓頭鷹，有的學生則是早起的百靈鳥，作息和生物鍾的匹配與否影響著他們的成績。比如，如果一名貓頭鷹型的學生被迫上早課，那麽他很可能取得糟糕的成績。
來自東北伊利諾伊大學（Northeastern Illinois University）的生物學副教授Aaron Schirmer是這項研究的參與者，他認為各大學和學院在製定學生作息時間表時應當參考這項研究。在條件允許的情況下，校方應當設置符合不同“時型”（chronotype）的課程時間表。
Aaron Schirmer說道，“各大學和學院應當設置各種（不同時間段的）課程，方便學生根據自己的生物鍾調節作息。”此外，他還表示，學生們也有必要了解自己在一天中的哪一時段內精力最好，從而製定與自己的生物鍾相符的作息時間表。
從2014年秋季到2016年春季，Aaron Schirmer和來自加州大學伯克利分校的博士後Benjamin Smarr一起對近1.5萬名學生進行了為期四個學期的分析，研究他們使用東北伊利諾伊大學D2L在線學習管理係統的方式。首先，他們觀察了這些學生登陸係統的時間，並分析了他們翹課的日期。這些活動軌跡說明了學生們各自帶有怎樣的生物鍾、願意在何時學習。然後，他們分析了這些活動軌跡與課程時間表的匹配度。
在這份研究中，不同作息時間間的差異被稱為“社交時差”（social jet lag），這個詞指的是個人的理想作息和作息時間表指導下的作息間的差異。據兩位研究人員稱，平均而言，“社交時差”越大，學生的學業表現越糟糕。此外，自身的生物鍾與現有作息時間表吻合的學生數僅占學生總數的40%。
Aaron Schirmer承認，翹課時間段並不能準確地表明學生具有怎樣的生物鍾。比如，他們可能拿這些時間做了其他事情，包括工作或是照看父母，在這段時間裏他們並沒有歇著。不過，來自在線學習係統的數據不僅成本低廉，而且有很多細節，這使得他們得以觀察到更為普遍的行為模式。
很長時間以來，研究生物鍾的科學家們一直在爭論全社會是否應該采用更為靈活的作息時間。相比上了年紀的人，年輕人在一天中的晚些時候更加清醒。有研究顯示，有的兒童在一大早舉行的考試中考得好，有的則晚些時候舉行的考試中考得好。讓每個人都在一大早8點或9點就起來或許並無益處，也並不公平，因為很多人在上午或者下午才更精神。
（翻譯：王寧遠）
This high school starts at 10 a.m. | The Star
This year, the teens at Toronto's Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute are starting classes an hour later than everyone else in the city as part of a pilot project.
By KRISTIN RUSHOWYEducation Reporter
Mon., Sept. 14, 2009
Math teacher Wayne Erdman teaches Grade 11 Eastern Commerce Collegiate students during first period, which now starts at 10 a.m. (KRISTIN RUSHOWY / TORONTO STAR)
How great is late?
"I like it – I feel more rested," says 16-year-old Tiffany Gerro.
"I feel so much better. It's awesome, I love it," adds Grade 11 student Mike Stuckless.
"There's more time (in the morning), you feel more fresh and less gross."
This year, the teens at Toronto's Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute are starting classes an hour later than everyone else in the city as part of a pilot project to determine if getting some extra sleep actually improves not just their attendance, but their grades.
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And so far, so good.
"The kids were on time – nobody was late" the first two days of classes, says Wayne Erdman, who started teaching math at the school 26 years ago and is now also the department head. "I could not believe it."
He's not expecting miracles – "they're still teens and I still expect some to be late, but not half an hour or 45 minutes," as in the past. And he's hoping that more sleep will mean better results for his first-period students, after a whopping 46 per cent failed Grade 11 functions last year.
Eastern is acting on the growing body of research that shows teens' brains are wired to go to bed late and get up late. At puberty, the chemical that induces sleep is secreted around 11 p.m. and shuts off around 8 a.m.
Most teens are also sleep-deprived at a time when their bodies need 8.5 to 9 hours a night; studies have shown that about three-quarters don't get nearly that.
When local trustee Cathy Dandy proposed the new timetable, the school looked at first-period statistics and found that, from punctuality to attendance, grades to credits earned, it was the worst.
At that time, school started at 8:50 a.m. and teachers said many kids would come to class like zombies, too tired to learn.
In the U.S., some schools that have experimented with a later schedule – with first period at 8:30 or 9 a.m. – report less student depression and fewer dropouts, and better test scores and grades.
One top U.S. researcher in the field said Eastern's 10 a.m. start is the latest she has ever heard of.
At Eastern, many students live out of district and have long commutes; others work late nights, even overnights, to support their family.
Principal Sam Miceli said he has heard positive reviews from staff and students and said enrolment is up this year, in large part to the new hours, "which is icing – any bump in enrolment is appreciated."
The board will study attendance, punctuality, class averages and credit accumulation for period one compared with other periods last year to this year, and next, said Miceli.
"If it proves to be a success, it should be as de rigueur as giving (younger) kids a nap. There's a biological need for it."
He knows critics will say it's coddling and indulging lazy teens, and others say it doesn't reflect the real world.
But he points out that not everyone starts work at 9 a.m. – even some merchants on the Danforth close to Eastern don't open until 11 a.m. – and that university students make their own schedules.
"So what is the real world?" Miceli said.
Already, though, the school has hit a couple of snags.
With a shortened lunch period – 42 minutes versus the usual 65 minutes, in part to accommodate early dismissal on Friday – some students are arriving late to class after lunch.
"That's longer than they'd get in the real world," says Erdman.
"That's going to be the biggest stumbling block."
Miceli said food has not been sold in the cafeteria for several years, so students often head up to the Danforth to grab a bite to eat. Students say that leaves them little time to sit down and eat.
With the lunch period now also an hour later, students are getting hungry – so next month the school will start handing out free breakfast to students as they arrive, said Miceli.
Student Ainul Majeed, who is vice-president of the student senate, likes the change but said she is no longer able to pick up a younger sibling from school. "Now someone else has to do it," she says. "It's less convenient."
Trustee Dandy says the board has received a lot of calls about the pilot project. "I'm excited about it," she says.
"I'm excited that we're going to track data and that we'll be contributing to the understanding of how to teach adolescents in a way that works for them."
She was also pleased that the school was able to work out a schedule that allowed for early dismissal on Friday, allowing Muslim students time for prayers.
'Oh, let them sleep': More on this subject in the parentcentral.ca editor's blog
