Cognitive fatigue in students during extended school days:  modeling the threshold of sustained learning

Altagracia Gómez Paulino; Wanda Marina Román-Santana; Judith Martínez-Alonzo

doi:10.56200/mentor.v5i14.12853

Authors

Altagracia Gómez Paulino Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo-República Dominicana
Wanda Marina Román-Santana Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo-República Dominicana https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9205-3200
Judith Martínez-Alonzo Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo-República Dominicana. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8313-3356

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56200/mentor.v5i14.12853

Keywords:

Cognitive fatigue, sustained learning, extended school hours, mental exhaustion

Abstract

Student mental exhaustion during extended academic schedules is associated with reduced attention, cognitive overload, and deterioration of sustained learning. The research aimed to analyze the perceptions of Latin American university professors regarding students’ cognitive exhaustion during extended school hours. A qualitative phenomenological-interpretative study was conducted with the participation of 33 Latin American university professors selected through purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews validated by experts were applied and analyzed through thematic analysis using ATLAS.ti software, ensuring interpretative triangulation and analytical rigor. The results revealed progressive cognitive exhaustion manifested through attentional decline, mental fatigue, and reduced academic performance. The professors identified a sustained learning threshold between the fifth and sixth academic hour, in addition to strategies aimed at reducing student exhaustion. It is concluded that extended academic schedules generate progressive cognitive exhaustion that limits sustained learning, affecting attention, processing, and information retention, highlighting the need to reorganize educational schedules considering students’ neurocognitive limits.

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Author Biographies

Altagracia Gómez Paulino , Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo-República Dominicana

Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo-República Dominicana

Wanda Marina Román-Santana , Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo-República Dominicana

Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo-República Dominicana

Judith Martínez-Alonzo , Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo-República Dominicana.

Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo-República Dominicana.

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