Student sleeps in the class during the lecture

Question

I'm a grad student and a lecturer of a section of a first year undergrad math course. This is my third year involved in teaching and this is first time something like this happened.

Last week, a student sitting in the front row fell asleep during my teaching. He breathed very heavily and was very distracting. I wasn't sure how to act and I didn't want to embarrass/scold him in front of everyone. Some other students noticed it, and I quietly, without others hearing it, asked a student behind to push him. He woke up and we continued like nothing happened.

Today it happened again and I got stressed and lost the flow of the argument during my teaching and got angry. But I kept my composure and "accidentally" touched him with the paper sheets as I passed by and he woke up.

I haven't talked with him about it, and I might ask a course chair for advice. But I feel very disrespected. Only tangentially related, but I'm not that boring, I get 90% very good anonymous feedback/review at the end of every semester.

After the class I mentioned it to two of his friends/classmates, as they also noticed it, and one of them giggled and said that he will tell him to sit in the back next time (this is not what I want though).

What is a good course of action? This is the US, and I'm a foreigner and if I act the way it is normal in my country, here it might be considered overly inappropriate and I don't want unnecessary tension.

UPD: I like cag51 answer and will follow it in practice. Thank you all, but honestly, some of your reactions were hostile. I come from another culture and a notion of respect is very culture-dependent and don't always have a pragmatic rationale. And one of my problems was that it disturbed the lecture flow which affects subsequently other students experience. I came with a good will.

I don't assume any disrespect anymore, but the noise may still be disturbing so I will talk to him as gentle as possible about the noise. Also I will suggest him, in the case of personal troubles causing it, the help options provided by school.

UPD2: Please don't respond explaining why sleeping is respectful or disrespectful. Respect is a social construct which depends on the culture but it seems you're assuming your culture to be universal. Since I live in the western world, I don't have a problem of following western social constructs.

Answer 1

I feel very disrespected

Don't be. It sounds like when you wake him up, he tries to remain awake and pretend like nothing happened. So, I don't think he is intentionally falling asleep as a signal of disapproval. Rather, my guess is that he was up late and then your classroom is warm and you are lecturing and his eyelids feel heavy and next thing he knows he's waking up and wondering whether anyone noticed. Been there.

Also, don't discount the possibility that he is tired because he is working full-time while going to school, or caring for an elderly relative, or taking too many classes, or something else along those lines. Even if he is just staying up late partying, it's still admirable that he tries to attend your class rather than just skipping.

After the class I mentioned to two of his friends/classmates about this

I am not sure what context this was in, but in general it makes me a little nervous. Gossiping about the student with the student's friends is rarely appropriate.

I might ask for a course chair for advice...What is a good course of action?

If the student's sleeping is disruptive, you should gently take action. For example, gently ask the student to sit in the back.

After you've eliminated any disruption, you have wide latitude on how to handle this. Asking your course chair for advice is a very good idea. Doing nothing is a perfectly fine choice. If you want to have a gentle conversation with the student, fine, but tread lightly. I strongly recommend against showing anger or otherwise being harsh with the student; that does not seem to be called for here.

Answer 2

I feel very disrespected

I will give you two perspectives to maybe change your mind

The Course I was Waiting For The Whole Year

When I was in my 4th year of physics, a lecturer was about to give THE course I was waiting for. I was extremely interested in the topic (that would lead to my PhD later) and could not wait for the class to start.

In the first minutes I felt extremely tired and actually fell asleep. I woke up when the course was done. I was beyond desperation. I had no idea why I slept - I think this was paradoxally the stress and the anticipation.

A few years later I went to the prof (who became a friend) and told him about that. he told me he saw me and was rather surprised because he knew how interested I was.

Where I Realize That My Friend Has Narcolepsy

A friend of mine suddenly fell asleep during a course, several times. It was rather funny because she would wake up when some words were pronounced by the prof (and only these).

She told me she has narcolepsy and since she was a very good friend, we of course experimented with other friends on her when she was asleep checking which guitar chords would wake her up. She ended up publishing a paper on that :)

Answer 3

Depending on their financial situation, many students have to work besides taking classes, which might be resulting in them not gettin enough sleep. Other issues can make their life stressfull as well. With young people being young people, excessive partying might equally be a possibility.

I am pretty sure the student does not come to class to sleep and likewise, he is probably not falling asleep because of your teaching, but because he is tired when coming to class and has a hard time staying awake, no matter the content.

Instead of taking things personally, you could try talking to the student alone after class, along the lines of, "I don't want to embarras you, but you have fallen asleep in my class several times now - is everything ok?" Like this, you make him (and him alone) aware that you have noticed without assuming malice or bad behavior from the student.

Answer 4

Alternative Perspective:

As an undergraduate engineering student, I found that I didn't learn in the same way as other students. Somehow, I was(am) wired differently. (Neurodivergent?) That is, I didn't learn very well if I sat and looked at the instruction and took notes.

My grades improved when I found a method that worked for me:

1. Two days before class, I would skim the text.
2. The day before class, I would read the text attentively.
3. On the day of class, I would sit in the front row, and sleep the entire lecture with my head in the pages of the text, on the content to be covered.
4. The day after class, I would take detailed notes from the text.

So that was the most effective way for me to learn. Once I figured this out, I did it for every class in every course. Other students asked "why not sleep at home?" I would respond that while I am sleeping, some part of me listens to the instruction. And this sleep-listening was much more effective for me then awake-listening. (I would jerk awake if I sleep-heard the word "midterm")

So this university student:

1. Pays tuition to attend your class
2. Shows up for class

Perhaps they are like me, and they need to learn in a different way. I suggest having an open mind and letting them do what works for them.

I always sat/slept in the front center of the class, as close as possible to the instructor. However, I didn't snore loudly, and made sure not to disrupt class. If they are loud, or are actually disrupting the class, I suggest asking them to sleep off to the side.

Answer 5

Many mentioned that: Maybe they work night shifts to fund their studies?

As long as they are not antagonistic, it's their responsibility to decide how to use their time. They pay the fees, if they do not take advantage of the service they pay for, it's on them. At least they have the intention to come to your lecture (I assume it is not compulsory to attend, which would be, anyway, a dumb rule at academic level).

So clearly, they want to be in the lecture. A prof I know regularly fell asleep in the department seminars. At question time, he woke up. After many show-off irrelevant questions, he would be usually the one to ask the one that hit the nail on the head. Who knows, maybe the student has a half-conscious way of absorbing information?

Now, if the student sleeping is disruptive via their breathing, then the solution of going into the back rows is a practical one. Or your "accidental" awakening of the student. Perfectly reasonable.

But, other than that, it's the student's own responsibility to stay awake. Students leaving your lecture is worse - and that happens, too, is ultimatively more disruptive and disconcerting - but maybe they have a shift, a parallel session, an emergency, or some other good reason to leave. It is a good idea to take anything that is below the threshold of intentionally and antagonistically disruptive on the chin.

A little tolerance goes a long way.

Answer 6

I agree that it is annoying and can cause you to lose your line of thought. It has happened to me a few times before, and you cannot "internally, in your mind" ignore it! My usual approach, though, is to disregard it! Students occasionally work late shifts and are just exhausted. Once, when a student yawned loudly, I just remarked, "Amen to that!" in a lighthearted attempt not to make things awkward. When I saw a student sleeping for the first time, I was upset but did nothing. After that, I looked at the student's grades, and he was doing really well! I therefore reasoned that perhaps he is simply exhausted and it is a work (or) athletic exhaustion issue. I comment here from the same foreigner in the US prospective.

Answer 7

Many people have said he is likely not doing it on purpose, but it is also worth mentioning how you can help. Some of the best professors I've ever had took time to mention that they understood we had a lot going on, and if we needed to stand up to stay awake, they understood. There were a couple of classes where I could not stay awake if I didn't stand up a couple times during the hour.

When I was a grad student and taught a class, I made to make sure to mention that on the first day of class. It was an early 8am class, I always had a couple students who would just stand up on the side or back of the classroom for a couple of minutes, then sit back down. It wasn't a disturbance and I actually felt better knowing they were trying to pay attention.

Answer 8

You might want to announce to the whole class that if they are feeling tired that it is ok to stand up and move to the side/back of the room and remain standing until a break. It is very hard for most people to sleep while standing and better to hear the content than miss it entirely.

Answer 9

He might have sleep apnea; be mindful.

Answer 10

Try to open a window. Lack of oxygen is a very common cause of sleepiness, and stuffy rooms with many people often have low oxygen levels. Cracking a window open might conceivably be enough to fix the issue.

I remember a conference a few years ago. I was attending a talk in the afternoon, after a full day. It was in a medium sized room, which was packed, and I found it very hard to stay awake. What's worse, this was a talk on a subject I found fascinating. The speaker was doing a great job presenting it and I was really, honestly interested and absolutely wanted to follow. I still kept almost nodding off.

So apart from all the other absolutely valid possible reasons in other answers, it could also just be that the room's too stuffy. So try opening a window next time (assuming the weather and your building's heating allows it, freezing is also not conducive to learning) and see if that might solve the problem.

Answer 11

Possible reasons for the student being excessively tired (not exhaustively)

1. Sleeping problems
   1. Either for no particular reason at all (sometimes happens)
   2. Or due to mental health problems
   3. Or due to physical reasons, like sleep apnea
2. Stress or working late because of other courses
3. Stress from life (sickness or death of family member, having to move)
4. Went out to party last night
5. Having to work to support himself

Falling asleep rarely means the lecture is boring. Only point 4. is arguably disrespectful. If it keeps happening you could even consider asking what's up, the student could be struggling with any of the above.

Answer 12

Talk to the student about sleep apnea, and recommend him to get a sleep study. He sounds word-for-word like me back in school, and difficulty staying awake is a hallmark symptom of Sleep Apnea(and Sleep Disordered Breathing in general)

Loud/irregular breathing during sleep happens when the airway collapses, causing its tissues to vibrate, which is also the direct mechanism of how sleep apnea happens. He needs a sleep study, and to treat it, before it ruins his life.

Also consider things like medication that can make people sleepy, antihistamines a good example, but could be any medication.

Answer 13

Perhaps you could wake them up without really disturbing them. You would need to know what situation they are in. I would talk to them after class and ask them what they are going through. Maybe someone died; maybe they are going through a break up; perhaps they are working around the clock and have no time to sleep. I would find out and find a better way to educate them. They are there for a reason. I would want to know why they are there.

How dare they fall asleep on me.

That’s a silly way to think about it.

I would want to know the situation. Ask and you shall receive.

Answer 14

Just ask the class (or just that student if you want to embarrass him) not to sleep.

I routinely slept in my courses (That's what they are for, after all :). Then one year I had a professor with a 'no sleeping' rule. (It is understandable to feel offended if someone is sleeping while you talk.) So I didn't sleep.

(I nodded off sometimes, and when that happened, the professor called me out on it. "Hey sleepyhead, wake up! No sleeping!" Or something to that effect.)

If he keeps sleeping, after you told him that's not allowed, you fail him under the 'class participation' clause. Your class, your rules.