Summit alumna Ellie Adam’s manuscript titled "The Influence of Remote Learning on Sleep Patterns of Teenagers" has been published by the Journal of Emerging Investigators (JEI).
Ms. Adam '21, who will attend Wake Forest University this fall and major in neuroscience, created a sleep study survey to investigate the impact of remote learning on high school student sleep habits at the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic. Due to unprecedented shutdowns, Ellie, a member of The Summit’s unique Schiff Family Science Research Institute, was not able to join a professional neuropsychology research group for the summer.
This led to the opportunity to develop the sleep study and to submit the resulting paper to a scientific journal for publication. “Taking her paper through the process of peer review was an amazing learning opportunity for both of us,” said Dr. Jessica Sakash Replogle, Head of the Schiff Family Science Research Institute.
She sought to determine if there is a difference in the sleeping patterns of high school students when they are exposed to asynchronous and synchronous remote learning styles. Asynchronous learning is when students complete assignments in a remote setting on their own time. Synchronous learning is when students learn in a remote setting in real-time following a traditional schedule.
The survey was distributed to students in high schools across Cincinnati, both private and public schools.
Students had a variety of responses, but the patterns in the data aligned with night owl and morning lark chronotypes: both chronotypes adjusted their sleep schedule to later bed and wake times, but night owls had a larger shift. The majority of students, both night owls and morning larks, felt more rested and gained more sleep. Teenagers reporting less than 8 hours of sleep a night are not receiving healthy sleep amounts, and the Center for Disease Control reports 7 out of 10 teenagers do not receive healthy sleep. Ellie’s studies revealed that 80% of the participants in her study were receiving healthy amounts of sleep during the first few months of the pandemic despite a shift to later bed and wake times.
To see her manuscript, click here. A full PDF version of the article can be downloaded when you reach the bottom of the page.
JEI is an open access journal that provides students, under the guidance of a teacher or advisor, the opportunity to submit and gain feedback on original research and to publish their findings in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. With the assistance of Dr. Replogle, Ellie went through multiple rounds of peer review before her paper was accepted. First, the paper passed the preliminary review by the managing editor before it moved into scientific peer review by three reviewers who are experts in the field. The last step in the half a year process was working with a copy editor to fine tune the manuscript.