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Measuring the Impact of a Weeklong Fall Break on Stress Physiology in First Year Engineering Students
- Source :
-
Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning . Sep 2018 9(2). - Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- Canadian post-secondary institutions are increasingly introducing a fall break into their term calendars, with the stated goal of reducing student stress and improving academic success. We conducted a pilot study around the time of this fall break during which we collected saliva samples to measure the ratio of two metabolic hormones (cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)) from first-year male engineering students in order to document possible changes in their stress levels before and after the break. Participants self-identified a particular day in the week prior to the break that they considered to be most stressful, followed by a day in the week after the break that was perceived to be equally stress-inducing. A control sample of student engineers was recruited from another university with equivalent academic rigour but without a fall break. Students who experienced the fall break exhibited a marginally lower ratio of cortisol to DHEA after the break than did those who did not experience the break indicating a difference in psychological stress. Since fall breaks are now increasing in popularity, we make the recommendation that it is imperative to empirically investigate their impact on student mental health.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1918-2902
- Volume :
- 9
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- ERIC
- Journal :
- Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- EJ1192635
- Document Type :
- Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research