Academic performance and sleep: a study with undergraduate students from the Teacher Training Center (CFP) of the UFRB

Abstract

This article seeks to understand the relevance of sleep quality in the academic life of students in the undergraduate courses at the Teacher Training Center of the Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia (UFRB), with a focus on its impact on academic performance and general well-being. In the future, we intend to promote the problematization and awareness of healthy sleep practices in order to optimize students' academic performance and quality of life. From this perspective, university life for many students brings a series of challenges that affect their physical and emotional health. Some studies have shown that the overload of academic activities interferes with sleep quality, which directly influences academic performance. Therefore, understanding the effects of an intense routine and its effects on the quality of life of undergraduates is important. In view of this, this research is qualitative in nature, in which data was obtained by means of a semi-structured questionnaire answered by 63 undergraduates from the Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Languages, Philosophy, Physical Education and Pedagogy courses at the Teacher Training Center of the Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia CFP-UFRB. The analysis methodology was based on Content Analysis, in which we listed three thematic categories a priori: a) impact of sleep on academic performance; b) strategies for improving sleep quality and c) motivation and involvement of the academic community in sleep issues. In general, the analysis shows that most of the participants feel overloaded with their academic responsibilities, making it difficult to maintain a regular sleep pattern. These difficulties can be attributed to a rigorous academic load and other factors such as high expectations of academic performance. In addition, the majority of students say they have never attended lectures, events or mini-courses on sleep, thus suggesting the need for more educational initiatives to address this problem.