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The deleterious effects of fatigue on final exam performance

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  • Glaser, Darrell J.
  • Insler, Michael A.

Abstract

We utilize an interrupted time series approach to identify the causal effects of a Sunday break on final exam performance. Five different class-year cohorts at the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) comprise our panel dataset with over 19,000 exam grades from more than 5,000 students. Exam schedules vary exogenously across years, and first semester freshmen have no say in their course schedules nor can they reschedule their exams. We find consistent empirical evidence that a day-long break situated in the middle of a final exam period increases the average exam grade after the break. This occurs even after we control for idiosyncratic scheduling characteristics during the exam cycle, other timing-related variables, and both course and student-specific variables. In particular, the average final exam grade taken one day after a break is 20%–30% of a letter grade higher than exams taken one day prior to the break. We also estimate that each passing day of a final exam cycle decreases performance by approximately 10%–15% of a letter grade, and that morning exams exhibit a 20%–25% of a letter grade decline in performance, compared to the afternoon.

Suggested Citation

  • Glaser, Darrell J. & Insler, Michael A., 2022. "The deleterious effects of fatigue on final exam performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:90:y:2022:i:c:s0272775722000784
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2022.102305
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Grades; Scheduling; Academic performance; Human capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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