Study Shows Significance of Taking Morning Exams

CRYSTAL CHEAH
Staff Writer

According to the Huffington Post, PhD economist Hans Henrik Sievertsen and his team of researchers at the Danish National Centre for Social Research examined 2 million test scores from 2,105 schools and 570,376 students from age 8 to 15 and found that test scores decreased by 0.9 percent for every hour later in the day the tests were taken.
“I believe my test performance is better in the morning because I can focus more in the morning. I do not perform well on tests during the afternoon because I cannot concentrate on the exams since my body is exhausted from the day,” sophomore Po Ma said.

The researchers suggested that students appear to be more aware at the start of the school day and may begin to experience cognitive fatigue as the day wears on, which impacts their ability to perform well on exams. Yet, some students disagree with the researchers’ conclusion.

“I might perform better if I take a test later on in the school day because my brain has already ‘warmed up’ and I am not sleepy anymore,” junior Amber Li said.

The report also states a possible solution to the disadvantage of starting a test later in the day: taking a brief break before the test. The average test scores improved by 1.7 percent when students took tests after a 20-30 minute break.

“I think students’ test performance depends on several factors. If students have excellent time management, [proper] sleeping habits and [a regular] appetite, they will do well on their tests. However, they won’t get a good score if they procrastinate until the last minute or are not eating and sleeping well. Otherwise, it does not matter whether the test is [during their] first or last period,” school nurse Anita Man said.