Impact of a High-Protein Breakfast on Memory Recall in Maths Course of the Ninth Grade Students - Research Paper Example

The Impact of a High-Protein Breakfast on the Attentiveness and Memory Recall in Math of the Ninth Grade in Saudi Arabia Instructor Institution Submission Date Abstract The experimental study will cover a quantitative research on ‘The impact of a high-protein breakfast on the attentiveness and memory recall in math course of the ninth-grade students in Saudi Arabia. The population will adopt both experimental and control samples to ensure credibility in the results. The samples will include 40 ninth-grade students from a school in Saudi Arabias capital, Riyadh. The model will be equally divided into terms of gender distribution. The control group will be equally extracted from the 20 males and 20 females. The experimental group will be exposed to the independent variable that is ‘a high-protein breakfast for this research. The control group will be used to validate the results due to the isolation from the independent variable. The two groups will be located in various classrooms to prevent their awareness on the experiment. Students will undergo normal Math lessons and their response and attentiveness monitored and observed. The experimental research will take one month and ensure that the students take a test with the same conditions. The long period will guarantee a quantitative research due to the collection of vast amounts of information from the students, parents, and teachers. Tests will be implemented to analyze the data collected. Introduction Problem of the statement Academic performance has been a setback that the students; teachers and guardian have tried overcome since the establishment of learning facilities. Recent research shows that the performance has been affected by physical, social, economic, cultural, and nutritional factors. Much research has been carried out in all other fields except the nutritional principles. Today, academic performance has been directly reflected the success of individuals right from the time they start studying. The current trends in academic accomplishments have made changes in the approaches of research. Nutritional factors in the educational sector have had their impacts in the start of the current century. The changes in economic and social aspects have contributed to the transformation of the nutritional approaches leading to various varieties of food products for the students. Most parents can offer decent and balanced diets to their school children. Additionally, economic stability has also led to the use of supplements and other drugs to help in the attentiveness that will improve the students performance. Schools have based their eating strategies on research carried out to show the improvement and response in students due to different meals. Cognitive capacities based on nutrition have caused various debates due to cases of malnutrition in third world. However, researchers carried out in specific areas have revealed the change in neural and brain activity after the consumption of high-protein foods. The experimental research is carried out in Saudi Arabia where economic levels can be described as satisfying. The approach will assist in ensuring that the sample population is not compromised due to observation of other factors that contribute to malnutrition. Proteins have been known to be body building foods. Biological and nutritionist research has exposed other uses of the proteins in the human body. They include the development of antibodies, enzymes and other structural components used in the transport of neurons in the body. The uses may contribute to attentiveness and memory recall. Literature Review Despite the lack of satisfaction in the previous researches dealing with impacts of nutrition on attentiveness and memory, most of the results maintain facts on positive effects of the diets. The previous researches have revealed the contribution of nutritional health in the cognitive and behavioral aspects of students that contribute to their performances. Notably, researchers have focused on different approaches and effects on brain activity and the manner they influences academic performances. This literature review will concentrate on the consequences of diets including high-protein breakfasts on individuals. According to (Kim, Frongillo, Han, Oh, Kim, and Jang, 2003), they have carried out a quantitative research on Korean children to monitor the relationship between academic performance and physical and dietary behaviors. They examined 6463 participants that included boys and girls from different grades in Korea. The children included those from grade 5, 8 and 11 (Kim, Frongillo, Han, Oh, Kim, and Jang, 2003). They used special questionnaires to gather data from the children associated with the food frequency. The diets were then examined and related to the students academic performances. The regularity of the meals depended on the childrens grade where 5, and 8 were issued regular breakfasts and lunch (Kim, Frongillo, Han, Oh, Kim, and Jang, 2003). Grades 11 were exposed to dinners that were associated to the performance and rate of activity in the school. Height and physical fitness were also examined in the children and ways that related the two factors to individual performances. The results showed that the changes in diets and mealtime affected the performance of the students. The grade 5 and 8 students could perform better and make more contributions during lessons. The breakfast and lunch meals led to their attentiveness and enhanced brain activity unlike grade 11 that depended mostly on dinner meals (Kim, Frongillo, Han, Oh, Kim, and Jang, 2003). Additionally, the height and physical conditions of the children also revealed positive direct associations to their learning performances (Kim, Frongillo, Han, Oh, Kim, and Jang, 2003). However, the regularity of meals had a greater impact on performance compared to socio-economic statuses and physical factors. The other study was carried out in Canada on 5200 grade 5 students with the aim of learning the impact of nutrition on school performance and individual health (Florence, Asbridge, Vuegelers, 2008). Standardized literacy assessment tests were used to examine the variables of the research. The variables included height, weight, dietary intakes, and socio-demographic factors. The Diet Quality Index was used to ensure international standards. The data was collected, and multilevel logistic regressions used to show the relationship between academic performance and diet quality (Florence, Asbridge, Vuegelers, 2008). The results were tabulated in three tables showing the different variables in the research. 19.1% of the students failed the literacy assessment tests that amounted to 875 of the total population (Florence, Asbridge, Vuegelers, 2008). Students associated with quality diets were less likely to fail the exams. Analyzed data shows that the students who consumed foods with less fat calories and high vegetable and fruit intake had lower possibilities of failing the exam. The results show that the children had improved school performances after a change in the diets. Additionally, the diets depended on the socio-economic statuses of the parents (Florence, Asbridge, Vuegelers, 2008). There is a direct association between the diet quality and the levels of performances of the students. Each of the two reviewed literatures shows a slight difference in the approaches used in the research. One was based on a single variable while the other had multiples variables in its research. There are changes in diets and physical factors affecting the school performances. Based on these previous researches, one can identify various trends in the nutritional approaches that can be used in the high-protein research. The findings are a motivation in the study leading to further research that specifies dietary principles and student excellence based on ‘protein breakfasts’. Method Research Question and Hypothesis The research questions are based on the topic, age and population samples being involved in the research. The study will focus most on classroom activities because they consist of memory retrieval and attentiveness of the students. Additionally, it will also measure the blood protein levels of the experimental group to ensure the impacts are due to the present levels. The hypothesis describes that the ninth graders were bound to become more attentive and have better memories if they were subjected to high-protein breakfasts. Null hypothesis reveals no change in the attentiveness despite the consumption of the proteins. Assumptions included holding factors such as student health constant and generalization of results based on the quantitative data. Research Design The research is quantitative; hence will apply quantitative survey of the information provided. The experimental group will be used to ensure maximization of collected data. The control group will be used as a foundation or basis to counter-check the gathered data. The independent variable will be the protein level in the blood after consuming high-protein breakfasts. It will not depend on other factors because they will be held constant. The dependent variable is the attentiveness and memory retrieval that will depend on the student characters and their response to the breakfast. The dependent variables will be monitored on the experimental group of the research project. The diversity of the approach will assist in gathering more data leading to a quantity based process. Participants The target population is the ninth graders in a school located in Saudi Arabia. The purpose for the ninth graders is the enhanced activities in school including tougher Math equations. A random stratified sampling method will be used to divide the two groups. Sampling will ensure the choosing of 40 participants from the main population. Since the school has both males and females, equality in gender distribution will be emphasized. The sample will be chosen randomly; hence, it will not focus on only the bright students but give an equal distribution and eliminate the collection of faulty data. The school management guaranteed external validity of the sample. The school programs will be taken into consideration to guarantee that the information is not compromised. The control participants were not told about the experiment to a control population. Instrumentation The experimentation process was video recorded. Recordings are required for future references and to help in acquiring more data that would have been missed during observation of the student’s responses. However, the video recorders were strategically placed to prevent spooking of the students. Once they would know they are being recorded, they would change their behaviors, provide false data with the aim of fame, and show off. Hand written recordings were also incorporated during the experimental period. It would provide data on both the control and experiment groups and their progress. Such recordings required the presence of an agent in the classroom; hence the management had to lie that it was a school requirement to collect data from the teachers. Record sheets were self-made to ensure all the aspects had been catered for in the research. They were different depending on the group of study. The records included names of all students in the experimental groups and a commentary on the impact of proteins. Other instruments included nutrition gauges used to measure the level of proteins that were being consumed and the blood levels. The measurements would be used to vary the intensity of proteins being offered and the responses from the students. At first, the levels were the same assuming other factors have been held constant. Statistical tables and software were also required to analyze the data and come up with trends in the results. Procedures Approval was acquired from the school management and parents to prevent negative legal outcomes. A permit was also acquired from the country’s immigration due to the agents involved in the research process and their stay in the country during the project. Firstly, the 40 participants were divided into experimental and control groups. The staff was also categorized according to the project description to ensure a qualitative analysis of thirty days. Factors such as weather patterns were also observed to make sure they did not have impacts on the attentiveness and brain activity of the students. The first two weeks of the research is accompanied by equal amounts of high-protein in the children breakfast. Agents in the experimental class were then to collect and document data from the students depending on the concentration, answering of the math tests and their remembrance properties. The data can be used to differentiate the two groups, (control and experimental). The other two weeks include variation in protein levels and the issuance of questionnaires to the children. The questions are based on the research topic and provide information on the students view after they had consumed high protein breakfasts. Other questionnaires are issued to the teachers to provide information on learners with high memory rates and are attentive in the classroom. The data is used to compare and contrast with results from the agents on the student’s names and whether they were victims of high-protein breakfasts. Threats to Internal Validity One of the key threats is exposing the aim of the experimental process to the students before the first stage has been accomplished (2 weeks). It may change the responses of the children based on behavioral and cognitive factors. The students leading to faulty data may also access the recordings. Some of the parents may deliberately add levels of protein to ensure their students enhance their academic performance during the research process. The age differences are also a threat during the second stage of data collection. Some of the students may not have clues on the interview question of answer them for the sake with comprehending the serious of the project. Other ninth-grade students may prevent younger ones from answering questions or participating in the Math classes due to bullying activities. Health problems may arise due to the sudden increase in high-protein consumption for the experimental and control groups. The long-term results may play a role in the internal validity. Reference List Edefonti, V., Rosato, V., Parpinel, M., & Nebbia, G. (2014). The effect of breakfast composition and energy contribution on cognitive and academic performance: A systematic review. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 100(10), 1-31. Florence, M., Asbridge, M., & Vuegelers, P. (2008). Diet Quality and Academic Performance. Journal of School Health, 209-215. JB, G. (n.d.). PHYSICAL FITNESS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. Retrieved November 4, 2014, from http://www.nemours.org/content/dam/nemours/www/filebox/service/preventive/nhps/pep/physfitacadach.pdf Kim, H., Frongillo, E., Han, S., Oh, S., Kim, W., & Jang, Y. (2003, January 1). Academic performance of Korean children is associated with dietary behaviours and physical status. Retrieved November 4, 2014. Rampersaud, G., Pereira, M., Girard, B., Adams, J., & Metzl, J. (2005). Breakfast Habits, Nutritional Status, Body Weight, and Academic Performance in Children and Adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 105(5), 743-760. Read More