The Sleep Duration and Critical Thinking Skills of Grade 11 STEM Students of

Davao Doctors College, Inc.

A Research Study Presented to the

Senior High School Department
Davao Doctors College, Inc.
General Malvar St,. Davao City

In Partial Fulfillment for the

Requirements of the Subject Inquiries, Investigation and Immersion
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Calaguim, Marc Anderson

Macabalang, Omar Kaliff P.
Maceda, Roselle
Monte, Haslima
Naranjo, Ralph Lauren
Saplagio, Catherine
Sariol, Aisha
Researchers

February 2020

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TITLE PAGE i
APPROVAL SHEET ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii
ABSTRACT iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS v

LIST OF TABLES vi
LIST OF FIGURES vii
CHAPTER 1 – THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Background of the Study 5
Worldview and Theoretical Lens 6
Purpose Statement 7
Research Questions 7
Literature Review 8
CHAPTER 2 – METHODOLOGY
Research Design 1
Place of Study 1
Participants 1
Instruments 1
Data Collection 4
Data Analysis 4
Sequence, Emphasis, and Mixing Procedures 6
Figure of Procedures 7
Anticipated Methodological Issues 7
Trustworthiness of the Study 8
Ethical Consideration 8
CHAPTER 3 – RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
CHAPTER 4 – CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
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 Implications for Educational Practice 30
Recommendation for Future 30
Research Concluding Remarks 30
REFERENCES 31-34
APPENDICES 35
CURRICULUM VITAE 36

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This study was not made alone. People gave their fullest effort to finish this
project. Thus, the researcher would like to thank all of them. First and foremost, the
researcher is very overwhelmed for God gave us knowledge to conduct this study. The
researcher gratifies Almighty God for all the guidance and blessings He had given that
made this study possible. This wouldn’t be possible without Him.
The researcher would also want to thank their Inquiry, Investigation, and Immersion
teacher, Ms. Karen Magallanes, for her guidance throughout the whole study. For
sharing her knowledge which helped the researcher to accomplish her study.
Of course, the researcher is giving her full appreciation to her parents for their endless
support, morally and financially, that made them pursue the study.
Lastly, the researcher would like to extend her gratitude to her friends, respondents and
all the people who contributed for the success of this study.
Thank you! May the Glory of God be with you.

ABSTRACT

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 The objective of this study is to identify sleep patterns and frequency of daytime
sleepiness and to assess the association between sleep duration and critical thinking
skills among Gr. 11 STEM students of Davao Doctors College
An interview on sleep schedule, school performance and school start time was
conducted in 15 students. A high level of early circadian-disadvantaged sleep/wake
schedules during weekdays was observed. Shorter sleep duration on weekdays was
reported. Complaints of inadequate sleep and sleepiness during weekdays, alarm clock
use, and napping prevalent. Night awakening onset wee common and associated with
poor critical thinking skills. Students with a sleep length of less than 7 hours on both
weekdays and weekend exhibited poorer critical thinking skills. The total number of poor
sleep duration in an individual also correlated with the poor critical thinking school.

Chapter 1

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 INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Sleep is an essential element of the human condition, which allows us to, when
obtaining the correct amount, perform critical daily functions at peak optimization.
However, the community at large often underestimates sleep and its importance,
therefore leading people to not be as concerned with a proper night’s sleep, thereby
preventing them from performing at peak efficiency.
In line with this, sleep is a normal human function that is detrimental to sustaining
life yet; individuals are affected differently by their sleep schedule. There is no doubt
that in today’s modern world senior high school students are busy individuals. Whether
from the grueling demands of regularly assigned homework coupled with major projects
assigned from a full schedule of classes, or the teacher asking them to “stay for just a
few hours longer,” they are stretched thin. Sleep is a detrimental necessity that when
not enough is obtained, a noticeable depreciation in the daily functioning of the sleep-
deprived individual(s) can have a harmful effect on the adequate performance of certain
critical daily functions.
When an individual routinely has poor sleep habits paired with sleep loss can
have a negative impact on one’s health. Sleep is important because it has a determining
role in your mental and physical health, along with quality of life (“How Much Sleep is
Enough”, 2012). However, regardless of the reason for one to not receive the proper
amount of sleep it is imperative that individuals, especially college students receive the
proper amount in order to avoid depreciation in their ability to problem-solve, think
critically and remember adequately.
Inadequate rest is characterized as 7 or less long periods of rest; while ideal is at
least 9 hours. Willingham (2012), expressed that the impact of sleep on learning isn’t
disastrous as one may expect. Some portion of the reason is failure to play out a well-
controlled examination to explore the impact of rest on intellectual abilities. As
confirmed by Wahlstrom (2012), lack of sleep may not only affect learning, but also
comes with other undesirable consequences.
This study highlights the involvement of sleep duration and critical thinking skills.
This study is conducted under the premises of Davao Doctors College, Inc. as it is
known as one of the most populated students having difficulties in terms of sleep
duration and critical thinking skills which we can perform our study.
The researchers defines the variables as how it is used in the study. These are
the following: Sleep duration and Critical thinking skills. Sleep duration typically refers to

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the total amount of sleep obtained, either during the nocturnal sleep episode or across
the 24-h period. Critical thinking is a process which aims to explain the main topics, to
see the interactions between these topics, to reach correct conclusions by these data,
to analyze the data and to evaluate the proofs. It contains all or some of these personal
skills. With the help of critical thinking, people might find effective solutions to the
problem in addition to making sound decisions. In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the
critical thinking abilities of Grade 11 STEM students of Davao Doctors College, Inc.
The researchers’ general objective of this study is to provide information about
sleep duration and critical thinking skills among the Grade 11 STEM students regarding
to their situations such as complications including general alertness and impairs
attention.
The general purpose of this study is to find a significant difference between the
researchers’ variables which are the Sleep Duration and Critical Thinking Skills of
Grade 11 STEM students as well as to test the proposed hypothesis provides by the
researchers.
Worldview and Theoretical Lens
This study is based on the Losing Sleep over Poor Performance Theory by
Cerminara (2015), which stated that lack of sleep impacts critical thinking skills.
Considering the fact that there is a large gap between the sleep duration of the students
and to their proper sleep duration does not only cause fatigue and sleepiness, but it also
leads to mental performance impairments. This proves that lack of sleep has been
shown to impact the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for higher brain functions
including memory, reasoning and language.
This theory is supported by the Information Consolidation Theory of Sleep
(2019), which suggests that people should sleep in order to process information that
has been acquired during the day. In addition, processing the information from the day
prior, this theory also argues that sleep allows the brain to prepare for the day to come.
Zeek and Savoie (2014), stated that sleep deficits among students warrant
attention from faculty members and school administrators. In addition, daytime fatigue
and poor academic performance. Research showed that sleep deficits lead to sleep
related complications in student including general alertness and impairs attention.
Zeek and Westrick (2014), added that adequate sleep optimally impacts mental
functioning and therefore impacts students’ performance. The pattern of sleep one
experiences in a 24-hour period directly correlates with physical health, mood, and
mental functioning.

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 However, as cited by Hyde et. al. (2009), critical thinking examines students’
access to information and students’ sense of engagement within the post-secondary
environment this allowed the broader features of critical thinking to be identified and
examine through asking and developing question, making connections, analyzing, and
creativity.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this mixed-method study will serve as parameter toe the STEM
students of Davao Doctors College to know that sleep is a normal human function that
is detrimental to sustaining life yet; individuals are affected differently by their sleep
schedule. This will useful to school administration for this will be effective for the
activities that affects the sleep schedule of a student. For the future researchers, the
study conducted is helpful in a way that this will provide enough information for future
study.
Research Questions
The purpose of this study is to determine the significant relationship between the
sleep duration and the grade 11 STEM students’ critical thinking skills.
Specifically, the study answers the following questions:
1. What is the level of Students’ Sleeping Duration in terms of:
1.1. General Alertness
1.2. Impairs Attention

2. What is the level of Grade 11 Students’ Critical Thinking Skills in terms of:
2.1. Asking and Question Development
2.2. Making Connections
2.3. Analyzing
2.4. Creativity

3. What are the reasons of experiencing sleep duration?

4. Does sleep duration affects critical thinking skills?
5. How sleep duration affects your learning?
6. How is critical thinking associated with different aspects of sleep?
7. Is there a significant relationship between Students’ Sleep Duration and Critical
Thinking Skills?

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Review of Related Literature
This section contains review of research literature pertaining to the variables and
indicators considered in this study. These include the following: The Sleep Duration
(general alertness and impairs attention) and Critical Thinking Skills (asking and
developing questions, making connections, analyzing, and creativity).

Sleep duration

Sleep is a part of normal daily life. It’s a necessity that we cannot survive without.
It is said that one can survive only so long without sleep before dying. That only proves
how important sleep is. When we go to sleep our bodies don’t shut down or go on a
pause mode. They stay active and recover physically and mentally. During sleep the
body’s energy resources fill up, the wounds and illnesses heal and the body protects
itself against illnesses. Our brains are very active when we are asleep. Even though we
are not conscious our brain goes through everything that has happened during the day;
it restores memories and deletes memories. It supports our learning and gets rid of
unnecessary thoughts. The brain never pauses, it’s always working (Pihl & Aronen
2015, 19).

In addition, the amount of sleep a person needs can vary a lot. Many factors
affect the amount of sleep a person needs. These factors include, for example, age,
gender, overall health condition and a personal life. The age is a big factor in an
individual need of sleep. Newborns and children less than 12 months old sleep a lot, in
average 15-18 hours a day, when again seniors (age over 65) sleep only 6-7 hours a
day. A person’s individual development has a big effect on the amount of sleep the
person needs. During one’s development (e.g. childhood and puberty) the body requires
more sleep in order to be able to physically develop. (Rintahaka 2016.)

As well, sleep duration is a key variable that frequently concerns and challenges
critical thinking skills of Grade 11 STEM students of Davao Doctors College, Inc.

Moreover, Sleep loss has been shown to be inversely proportional to academic

performance; when one fails to receive an adequate amount of sleep on a nightly basis,
the literature states that an individual’s skills in learning capacity, such as memory,
attention and problem solving skills are effected the most. Sleep deprivation can also
lead to daytime sleepiness. When these factors are all being faced, students are likely
to achieve lower test scores and lower grade point averages; however, it has been
shown that cognitive function is not hindered as drastically when the individuals are
working in groups as when working alone (Chiang, Arendt, Zheng, & Hanisch, 2014).

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 General Alertness. It refers to kinds of thinking, flexibility and versatility an
individual possesses that makes it possible for him to adjust in new situation. According
to Baswaraj, Bappan (2018) the general alertness plays an important role in the stage of
adolescent’s life especially during the age of 16. General alertness influences the
adolescent’s personality in learning towards their academic improvement that includes
on employing in solving the mathematical, verbal and through environmental barriers of
their classroom’s surrounding.

On the other hand, Kenchappinavar (2009) conducted a study on emotional

maturity of female college students of Bijapur. In his study, an attempt has been made,
to study whether there is difference in the emotional maturity of female students
studying women’s colleges and co-educational colleges. The results indicate that the
female students of co-educational colleges have a significant higher emotional maturity
as compared to the female students of women’s colleges.

According to Hurlock (2010), the general mental alertness plays impermanent

role for enhancing teaching effectiveness especially to the prospective teachers
undergoing teacher training program both primary and secondary. The mental alertness
influences on the personally interest in teaching attitude towards teaching profession
and academic prospective teacher.

Moreover, Lehr (2012) said that being alert to dangers and opportunities is
essential, alertness to how we affect others is vital to all of our relationships. How
others’ actions affect us important, but how our actions affect is even more so. It would
serve all of us well to be alert to both. He also stated that “You have more influence
than you think. Be alert to it.”

Impairs Attention. It refers to an individual's capacity to choose what they

pay attention to and what they ignore. Astle (2009).

There are many cognitive factors that come into play when evaluating things that
could potentially affect an individual’s cognitive performance. Cognitive factors are
those characteristics of a person that affect the way they learn and perform. Such
factors serve in a way which modulated performance and are therefore susceptible to
improvement, as well as decline. Examples of these cognitive functions are things like
memory, attention, and reasoning

According to Hawkes et al. (2012), impaired attention is identified as a complex

construct in psychology which does not express unitary concept. Impaired attention
involves inhibitory control which is commonly described as the ability to absorb
irrelevant information.
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 Schmidt (2010), stated that impaired attention can impact in critical thinking skills.
For example, the pervasive influence of sustained attention is likely affect the ability to
engage in non-pharmacological interventions such as recreational activities.

However, Cordono et al. (2011), stated that difficulty in assessing studies of

impaired attention may be confusing over the definition of impaired attention. Studies
have showed the definition of the impaired attention is the specific task or stimulus in
the context or distracting or irrelevant stimuli that will not maintain a person’s capacity to
focus and most likely to create gap between the communications in the brain.

Moreover, Felipo et al. (2011), stated that the brain area also involves the
attention system. Alteration in high risk of cognitive communication can be reflected to
sleep duration and critical thinking processes which can lead to impaired attention, and
other factors that will result to impairment in everyday function. Impairments of attention
and executive functions are common after effect of traumatic brain injury (TBI). The
anterior cingulate is implicated in conflict-related task performance, and may contribute
to reduced performance on executive function tasks, such as the mood or strop of a
person, although this is likely but one node of an extensive brain network involved in
these critical thinking processes.

Critical Thinking Skills

It is the ability to think clearly and rationally, understanding the logical

connection between ideas. Critical thinking has been the subject of much debate and
thought since the time of early Greek philosophers such as Plato and Socrates and has
continued to be a subject of discussion into the modern age, for example the ability to
recognize fake news. According to Tammy LaPoint-O’Brien (2013), critical thinking is
the focal point missed in many students’ education. These students are taught
memorization with little time left for the development of critical thinking skills in which
allows for a deeper understanding and a richer experience. They must learn to ask
appropriate questions and deduce information in order to build a deeper connection to
the information.

Furthermore, according to Emily R. Lai (2011), she stated that Critical thinking
includes the component skills of analyzing arguments, making inferences using
inductive or deductive reasoning, judging, or evaluating, and making decisions or
solving problems. Critical thinking involves both cognitive skills and dispositions in
preparation of human mind. These dispositions, which can be seen as attitudes or
habits of mind, include open and fair mindedness, flexibility to seek reason, and a
willingness to entertain diverse viewpoints.
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 Moreover, a student needs to regard places in order for their skills to become
effective, especially in terms of critical thinking. A place that involves students in rich,
authentic, collaborative work; that takes responsibility for building 21 st century skills; and
that uses a diverse program of assessment to document students’ growth in such skills.
(Coughlin, 2010).

Asking Question and Development. It refers to how we plan our question,

know your purpose, open conversation, and to develop critical thinking skills. According
to Jog (2009), he stated that questioning can be used to promote independent learning
in school setting in a variety of ways. The key ingredients are that students should have
some freedom to choose a question in which they are interested, to have an opportunity
to teach others (peers and the teacher) base on want they learned. It was witnessed
one especially successful example of spontaneous, curiosity-driven questioning in
Kalta, India.

In the study of Armstrong (2018), to develop critical thinking skills, the question
you ask should help them practice their skills as well as communicate the facts. For
example Bloom’s taxonomy to assure that you are addressing various types of cognitive
process in your questions.

Furthermore, according to Sahlberg (2011), he stated that questioning may

seems like a good educational approach. A second impediment by using questioning an
educational tool is that questions are unpredictable by their nature. Identifying a good
question and being able to articulate. It is not just an exercise for high school students,
but it is also a key skill for developing.

In addition to, Ronald (2013), expressed that through asking questions and
seeking answers. This will also help to understand the intuitively as we explore and try
to make sense of our surroundings.

Moreover, Alda (2012) pointed that questions can be used for better
understanding to a person’s cognitive development. It is also important that there are
some questions are also related to the person’s social and emotional development.

Making Connections. It is a strategy that one way we can help learners

understand what they are reading. As readers connect the text to self, to other texts,
and to events that have or are happening in the world.

Draper (2012), stated that good readers make connections as they read seriously
towards the texts. Because of this, they can relate the book to their own experiences
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(text to-self), information from different writings (text to-content), or from what they think
about the world (text to-world). Making connections is connecting what the students
read, to what they definitely know specially the things that is easy to learn. This strategy
enables students to understand content, by activating their prior knowledge and making
meaning of what they read. In the study of Keene and Zimmerman (2009), the making
connections strategy will help the teachers to assess how students use prior knowledge
to understand the texts.

Furthermore, according to Aikenhead (2009), the student revealed real-world

connections between chemistry concept and contexts. They discovered her
commitment in the context-driven tasks interesting and productive as they recognized
the associated sequences of concept over the context examined.

Based on Correia, Manuel G.; Bleicher, Robert E. (2009), they stated that
approaching reflection from the perspective of a teachable skill set suggest that
research may inform how to help students reflect on what they learned.

Moreover, Moletsane, R (2009), stated that making connections towards self-

study and social action presents a trans-disciplinary, trans-cultural discussion of the
dynamic interaction between self-study and our modern world of society.

Analyzing. According to Webster’s Dictionary (2010) this refers to study or

determine the nature and relationship of the parts of (something) by  analysis.
Amongst all defined concepts, thinking skills are embedded into the cognitive thinking
concepts, revolving around analyzing, evaluating and reasoning and solving problems.

Emerson (2013), stated that the concept of skills here refers to concrete
instructions that can be used to guide the way of logical thinking. Generally speaking,
skills as tools are widely accepted by the academia. Using skills to achieve the ultimate
goal of making sound decisions or solving complex problems is inevitably part of the
definitions given. These skills should be taught to the learners by the educators for its
beneficial to minimize the difficulty associated with critical thinking.

In line with this, Vaughn (2005) discussed that the newly-introduced definition
open window for explaining these skills, in addition to the function of tooling, even
though most definitions acknowledge that critical thinking are a set of intellectual virtues
possessed by a good thinker, just as Brookfield (2005) suggests that critical thinkers
can analyze and examine their own arguments.

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 However, Dunn et al. (2009) claims that critical thinkers should be able to
evaluate issues from different point of view, whereas others consider it as a set of skills
following certain criteria.

All in all, Ramam (2018), stated that analyzing is essential in every aspect of life.
Need to look at your goals, need to analyze how much you have accomplished, analyze
future plans, analyze available opportunities, weaknesses, threats and remedies. With
analysis only we can move forward and make progress.

Creativity. It refers to the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality.
According to Richards (2010), being creative requires reflection, encourages
engagement and develops confidence and responsibility. The ability and inclination to
be creative is essential to living a fulfilled and successful life, and it is valued in higher
education and workplace. There are many other benefits of maximizing one’s own
creative potential such as physical and psychological health improvements, improved
resilience in the face of difficulties and even lower levels of aggression.

Guy Claxton (2013), points out: “Asking good questions is the basis for becoming
successful learner. If children are not asking questions, they are being spooned.” A
learner formulating a question can illuminate their current thinking skills, helping them to
guide instructions, as well as being creative activity in its own right.

Runco (2009) explains that people sometimes hold beliefs or theories about the
nature of creativity which can have detrimental effects on attempts to nurture creativity
in an educational context. These theories are different from what research suggests is
in fact the case. For example, many people believe that creativity is a natural talent
which cannot be taught, whereas studies shown that learners can improve their creative
thinking skills with the right type of input.

Craft (2009), stated that our understanding of innovation and creativity have
progressed and broadened over time. In the early 20 th century, creativity was
considered to be an innate and elusive quality that individuals were born with. Initially,
creativity is most closely associated with the arts but grew to include science,
technology and other disciplines. In the 21 st century, creativity is increasingly viewed as
distributed and collaborative process of communal sense making and problem solving.

However, according to Kaufman and Beghetto (2013), creativity has been

associated with a wide range of subjects. This includes the more obvious fields such as
economics and education. Furthermore, creativity has been deemed a desirable trait for
graduate students, and it has been named “the most important economic resource of
21st century. Due to its complexity use of imagination for being creative towards the
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subject, it has also been stated that creativity needs innovation as a support and partner
to make outstanding achievements that is being unique to someone.

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