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Does the Early Bird Catch the Worm or a Lower GPA? Evidence from a Liberal Arts College

Author

Listed:
  • Timothy M. Diette

    (Department of Economics, Washington and Lee University)

  • Manu Raghav

    (Department of Economics and Management, DePauw University)

Abstract

Colleges and universities with capacity constraints like to offer early morning classes to maximize the use of classrooms. Moreover, evenings are often reserved for extra-curricular activities. However, research from psychology has shown that a teenager’s mind benefits from additional sleep during early morning hours. We use data from a selective liberal arts college that assigns students randomly to different sections of the same course. This creates a natural experiment. Our paper shows that after controlling for other factors, students in early morning sections earn lower grades than students in sections of the same course offered later in the day. The result holds for all the courses offered at this institution. Grades are especially low for 8 am and 9 am classes for both genders, although the effect is larger for male students. This suggests that trade-offs exist between optimal use of classroom space and learning outcomes for students.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy M. Diette & Manu Raghav, 2016. "Does the Early Bird Catch the Worm or a Lower GPA? Evidence from a Liberal Arts College," Working Papers 2016-01, DePauw University, School of Business and Leadership and Department of Economics and Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:dew:wpaper:2016-100
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cortes, Kalena E. & Bricker, Jesse & Rohlfs, Chris, 2010. "The Role of Specific Subjects in Education Production Functions: Evidence from Morning Classes in Chicago Public High Schools," IZA Discussion Papers 5031, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Timothy M. Diette & Manu Raghav, 2016. "A student's dilemma: is there a trade-off between a higher salary or higher GPA," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(6), pages 612-621, November.
    3. Nolan G. Pope, 2016. "How the Time of Day Affects Productivity: Evidence from School Schedules," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(1), pages 1-11, March.
    4. Dills, Angela K. & Hernández-Julián, Rey, 2008. "Course scheduling and academic performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 646-654, December.
    5. Alexandra C. Achen & Paul N. Courant, 2009. "What Are Grades Made Of?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(3), pages 77-92, Summer.
    6. Edwards, Finley, 2012. "Early to rise? The effect of daily start times on academic performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 970-983.
    7. Eric R Eide & Mark H Showalter, 2012. "Sleep and Student Achievement," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 38(4), pages 512-524.
    8. Scott E. Carrell & Teny Maghakian & James E. West, 2011. "A's from Zzzz's? The Causal Effect of School Start Time on the Academic Achievement of Adolescents," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 62-81, August.
    9. Jesse Bricker & Kalena E. Cortes & Chris Rohlfs, 2010. "The role of specific subjects in education production functions: evidence from morning classes in Chicago public high schools," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2010-33, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    10. Peter Hinrichs, 2011. "When the Bell Tolls: The Effects of School Starting Times on Academic Achievement," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 6(4), pages 486-507, October.
    11. Timothy M Diette & Manu Raghav, 2015. "Class Size Matters: Heterogeneous Effects of Larger Classes on College Student Learning," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 41(2), pages 273-283, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Cotti, Chad & Gordanier, John & Ozturk, Orgul, 2018. "Class meeting frequency, start times, and academic performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 12-15.
    2. Anthony LokTing Yim, 2023. "How Early Morning Classes Change Academic Trajectories: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Purdue University Economics Working Papers 1334, Purdue University, Department of Economics.
    3. Groen, Jeffrey A. & Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff, 2019. "Snooze or lose: High school start times and academic achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 204-218.
    4. Jonathan A. Tillinghast & Dr. James W. Mjelde & Anna Yeritsyan, 2023. "COVID-19 and Grade Inflation: Analysis of Undergraduate GPAs During the Pandemic," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    5. Timothy M. Diette & Manu Raghav, 2018. "Do GPAs Differ Between Longer Classes and More Frequent Classes at Liberal Arts Colleges?," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(4), pages 519-527, June.
    6. Sing Chen Yeo & Clin K. Y. Lai & Jacinda Tan & Samantha Lim & Yuvan Chandramoghan & Teck Kiang Tan & Joshua J. Gooley, 2023. "Early morning university classes are associated with impaired sleep and academic performance," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(4), pages 502-514, April.
    7. Lenard, Matthew & Morrill, Melinda Sandler & Westall, John, 2020. "High school start times and student achievement: Looking beyond test scores," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    8. Williams, Kevin M. & Shapiro, Teny Maghakian, 2018. "Academic achievement across the day: Evidence from randomized class schedules," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 158-170.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Class time; grades; GPA; student learning;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • Z18 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Public Policy

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