Sleep Campaign for
teenagers
Group Project Proposal
Members:
10S7F
Chong Jin Jian
Gao Helin
Low Zuo Kai Nicholas
Sim Meng Ying
Zheng Xiaodong
Supervising Tutor:
Mr Mark Tan Wei Jie
Date of submission:
9th July 2010
Case Study- Specialised schools in Singapore
Normal way – traditional, balanced, academic education
At the end of primary school education, all students would have to take the
Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE). Results of PSLE would be
then used to post students to suitable secondary schools1.
Majority of secondary schools provide a holistic education with emphasis on
both academics and personal development such as national education, cocurricular activities and project work. However, the focus is largely providing
quality academic education2.
Alternatives
Thus students who have talent in areas such as sports and the arts are often
not given enough resources and time for development in mainstream schools.
Thus there is a need for an alternative to the normal way of schooling to cater
for the specialised needs for group of students2.
The government provided specialised schools as an alternative to mainstream
schools.
Specialised schools which cater to talented students in specific areas such as
sports, arts, math and the sciences3.
1
http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissions/secondary-one-posting/
2
http://www3.moe.edu.sg/bluesky/faqs.htm#10
http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissions/secondary-one-posting/general-information/otherschools/
3
Page 2 of 26
1. NUS High School of Mathematics and Sciences
2. Singapore Sports Schools
3. SOTA
Purpose of specialised schools4
Through specialised schools, it is evident that Singapore is moving away from
traditional schools which focus purely on academics and focusing on
alternative approaches of developing specific talents of students.
Advantages of specialised schools:
1) Caters to the needs of students who have talent in a specific area
2) Education curriculum allows students sufficient time to develop their
specific talents
3) Ample resources allocated to students for the development of their
talents
Disadvantages
1) Student’s interest and talents may be inaccurately determined at the
tender age of 12, leading to a waste of resources.
2) Our paper qualification orientated society makes it risky for students to
specialise in a field that is not related to academics
4
http://www.moe.sg/media/speeches/2004/sp20040423.htm
Page 3 of 26
Evaluation of disadvantages
1) We cannot determine with absolute certainty that they are visual,
hands on or audio learners. Thus to prevent any consequences should
their learning style be determined incorrectly, this project will teach our
target audience using all three methods, but with greater emphasis on
their characterised trait. (just like A levels contrasting subjects to act as
a balance)
2) The Secondary One posting requires all primary 6 students to
participate, using their PSLE scores. Those who wish to apply for
specialised schools will have to transfer from their posted schools. This
allows their re-admission into the mainstream school system should
they decide to discontinue in the specialised school’s curriculum 3.
Learning point
The
existence
of
alternative
approaches
from
mainstream
schools,
specialised schools, caters to development of students’ different abilities
besides academics.
Using Singapore Sports School as an example, the sporting needs of
students are met through provision of state-of-the-art sport facilities and
professionals as well as a revised education curriculum to allow students to
prepare for competitions 5 . The staff of Singapore Sport School includes a
biomechanist,
a
sports
physiologist,
a
sports
psychologist,
three
physiotherapists, two strength and conditioning coaches, and a nutritionist.
Given the success of Singapore Sports School, we can see that this
5
http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_414_2004-12-30.html
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alternative approach is indeed advantageous6. Thus catering to the needs of
selected students is the most efficient way of developing their talents.
We understand that different people have different needs and thus our project
will cater to the individual styles of our target audience to help them learn
more effectively.
6
http://app1.mcys.gov.sg/PressRoom/SingaporeSportsSchoolAnnualAwardsNight.aspx
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Project Topic: Lack of sleep among teenagers
Problem statement
Many in society lack sufficient sleep due to irregular working hours, poor time
management, and indifference to harmful consequences of insufficient sleep.
Reason for project topic
The reason we chose this topic is because we realised that sleep deprivation
is not as simple as many people think it is.
The current situation in Singapore is detrimental to our wellbeing and
demands improvement. At present, only 2.6% of teenagers in Singapore have
9 or more hours of sleep7, with 80% of the 940 students polled in Teen Sleep
Survey Singapore (2007) getting less than the recommended eight hours of
sleep8. This is brings harm not just to the mind, with proven relations between
negative mood and depression with inadequate sleep 9 and between poor
school performances with lack of sleep10, but also to the body, with higher risk
of hypertension 11 , obesity 12 and unintentional injuries and death
13 in
sleep
deprived teenagers.
7
Jaganathan, J. (2007, June 15). Sleepless in Singapore. The Straits Times
8
Jaganathan, J. (2007, June 15). Sleepless in Singapore. The Straits Times
Wolfson AR, Carskadon MA. Sleep Schedules and Daytime Functioning in Adolescents. Child Development
1998, 69: 875-887.
9
Wolfson AR, Carskadon MA. Sleep Schedules and Daytime Functioning in Adolescents. Child Development
1998, 69: 875-887.
10
Vgontzas AN; Liao D; Bixler EO; Chrousos GP; Vela-Bueno A. Insomnia with objective short sleep duration
is associated with a high risk for hypertension. SLEEP 2009;32(4):491-497.
11
Rob Stein (2005/10/09). Scientists Finding Out What Losing Sleep Does to a Body. Washington Post .
Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2005/10/08/AR2005100801405.html
12
Page 6 of 26
Having sufficient sleep is essential not just in maintaining our health, but also
the holistic development of our mind and body. Hence, we seek to work on
the problem of sleep deprivation in Singapore students so that the future
leaders of our country will develop good sleeping habits.
Target audience
Students aged 14-22 years old. This is because they have:
1) Heavy workload especially academic and non academic commitments
(Hence, they usually stay up late at night to complete their assignments,
forgoing the recommended 8 hours of sleep.)
2) Poor time management, spending too much time chatting online or
playing online games (Hence, they stay up late at night too to
participate in these activities, forgoing sleep)
Aim of our proposal
1) Improve the quality of sleep among students (To compensate for the
lack of ample sleep)
2) Promote planning of sleep as a way to improve time management
Our approach to the problem
Currently, there is a lack of sleep campaigns in Singapore. The sleep
campaigns that were carried out were mainly spreading awareness to the
public through a very informative way. However, our group realizes the
importance of making learning of new knowledge interesting and engaging.
National Sleep Foundation. (2000). Influencing Physiological Sleep Patterns. In Adolescent Sleep Needs
and Patterns: Research Report and Resource Guide (Part 1). Retrieved from
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/_content/hottopics/sleep_and_teens_report1.pdf
13
Page 7 of 26
Moreover, each person, having different preferred learning styles, will respond
differently to information conveyed to them. Thus, we hope to spread
awareness of the importance of sleep, as well as inspire teenagers to improve
their sleep habits, through alternative ways: Visual and kinaesthetic.
Overview of proposal

Design alternative ways to conduct a sleep campaign, apart from the
conventional informative method (Exhibitions, lectures etc)

Two pronged approach: Conduct workshops on how to engage in
power naps and distribute sleep organizers
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1) Sleep Organizer
Rationale for introducing Sleep Organizer
In the competitive society of Singapore, students are stressed with a heavy
workload, including assignments and other commitments. This would tend to
cause them to lose track of time and have irregular and insufficient sleeping
times, having detrimental effects to both the mind and body. Hence, a sleep
organizer would help students to plan how much they sleep and make sure
they receive sufficient rest.
Overview of Sleep Organizer
According to our surveys, the three key areas that students would like to see
in a sleep organizer would be the planner, instructions on getting power naps
and instructions on getting quality sleep. Hence, all these components will be
included in our sleep organiser. In addition, our sleep organiser will be very
visual, making use of impactful pictures and striking colours to stimulate the
senses of our audience. Also, the usage of minimalistic tables will allow
students to plan their sleep with ease, utilising only about a few minutes per
day.
Aim
Through introducing the sleep organizer to students, we aim to:
1. Let them develop regular sleeping hours and good sleeping habits
2. Allow students to get quality sleep and improve their overall health
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Components of Sleep Organizer:
Details
Sleep Planner
Reason for inclusion
A basic template for To achieve the main objective of
plan one’s sleeping the organizer, helping students
hours
Instructions
plan their sleeping hours
on Some methods to For students to refer to as and
getting
power have power naps
when they feel like taking a nap.
naps
Instructions
getting
on Some
advice
on For students to refer to before
quality getting quality sleep
sleep
they go to sleep so as to develop
good sleeping habits.
Manufacturing process:
Company to produce organizers
Paterson Lin
Contact information: 18apparels@gmail.com
Cost
As the production and design of the organizers would be done by our team,
the cost of production would be low. Furthermore, this producer is the same
company which produced our school handbooks, thus credibility of the
producer and the quality of organizers produced can be ensured.
How many to produce
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For a trial run, there is no actual need to produce the actual organizer.
Selected pages from the organizer can be distributed to conduct trial tests.
However, we are considering distributing it for free to increase awareness of
importance of sleep during our workshops.
Feasibility and Manageability
The introduction of Sleep Organizers is quite feasible because the production
costs are low. Also, according to our surveys, many people have indicated
interest in the sleep organizer and would like to try it out for themselves.
The main difficulties that we may face in realizing this proposal is:
1. Publicity
Problem:
If we were to attempt to introduce our sleep organizer to all schools in
Singapore, we might have difficulty reaching out to all of them.
Solution:
Flyers can be distributed to the various school committees, which will then
pass on the information to their students. Posters can also be put up at
locations such as the Singapore Sleep Society Headquarters and MOE
branches for publicity.
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Design of sleep organizer
Design of the sleep planner section
Page 12 of 26
Mini Trial for Sleep Organizer
Aim:

To test the effectiveness and attractiveness of our sleep organizer.

To gain honest feedbacks from our trial group by distributing the sleep
organizers to students in our present class (10S7F) for 10-day usage.
Details:
Trial Duration
12 July to 23 July（10 school days）
Trial Group
21 students from 10S7F in Hwa Chong Institution
No. of organizers needed
1 complete sample organizer and 21 sets of
selected parts from the organizer(including
sections to plan one’s sleep, advice on quality
sleep and power nap)
Cost
S$50
Instructor
Sim Meng Ying
Organizer Producer
Self-printed
Source of Fund
Self-paid
Ways of Evaluation
Feedback Survey and Interview
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Procedure:
1. On 12 July, Meng Ying will give brief introduction of our project and
show our organizers to the students in 10S7F. We will then distribute
selected portions of our organizer to each student, from which they
would learn how to plan their sleep schedule, learn power nap and
good quality sleep skills.
2. On 23 July, we will gather feedback from students through distributing
forms.
3. Selected students with interesting feedback will be approached to
gather more
detailed feedback.
4. Analyze the survey and interview results for further improvements.
Page 14 of 26
2) Power Nap Workshop
Rationale for conducting power nap workshop
With heavy school load like today, Singaporean students are often deprived of
sufficient sleeping hours. Hence, power nap has often been resorted to as an
effective way of rejuvenation and refreshment. However, many students are
unable to manage their power nap efficiently to maximize their benefit. Hence,
a power nap workshop conducted would be helpful to teach students tips of
power nap.
Differences from traditional workshop
Traditional workshop
Power nap workshop
Convince audience the benefits of Provide
student
audience
an
power nap by listing out benefits one opportunity to experience effective
by one
Introduce
environment
power nap by themselves
tips
to
on
monitoring Create an ideal sound and visual
facilitate
effective environment
powernap by verbal communication
to
facilitate
effective
power nap
Introduce tips on managing power Provide student audience first-hand
nap to prevent drowsiness upon experience
waking up or sleep disorder
rejuvenated
of
how to
from
wake
power
up
nap
drowsiness
Page 15 of 26
Aim
Through providing student audience the opportunity to experience effective
power nap, we aim to:
1. Convey to student audience the benefit of power nap
2. Introduce tips of effective power nap
3. Advise on power nap management
Targeted audience
30-40 students of the age 12-22 years old, studying in secondary schools,
junior colleges and universities for each workshop session
Reason: Students of this age group are most susceptible to insufficient sleep
and hence is in great need of instruction on how to manage power nap.
Only 30-40 students can be admitted for each workshop sessions since it is
more efficient and effective to focus on a small group of people in conducting
power nap workshop.
Time Duration and Frequency
45 minutes
Reason: Due to busy school schedule of the majority of students, 45 minutes
would be sufficient and suitable for power nap workshop. Students may attend
the workshop freely with minimum disruption of their normal curriculum hours.
Two workshop sessions will be organized in each school
Page 16 of 26
Reason: Due to the relatively small number of students attending each
workshop session, two workshops will be conducted in different timings to
reach out to a larger audience.
Venue
Computer rooms in respective schools
Reason: To provide necessary facilities to create ideal environment for power
nap.
Work allocation for workshop
Group members of this project will conduct workshop cooperatively. Work
allocations of individual members are as the following:
Chong Jin Jian
In charge of finding and controlling
music background during workshop
Gao Helin
Publicity of workshop in schools
Nicholas Low Zuo Kai
Facilitator during workshop
Sim Meng Ying
Contact with school for booking of
venue
Zheng Xiaodong
Preparation of coffee and disposable
cups used during workshop
Page 17 of 26
Content
Programme
Duration
Opening introduction of aims of workshop
3 min
Tension relaxation to prepare participants the ideal mental state for 5 min
effective power nap
Eliminate guilt of power nap:
1. Innumerate famous personals who have the habit of power nap:
Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Edison
2. Guarantee participants of higher productivity after power nap
Empty mind:
Let go of all thoughts in mind. Practice forcing oneself to
concentrate on monotonous mantra, such as ‘Calm’, ‘Peace’, or
simply ‘OMmm’ which carries no additional meaning.14
Introduce rationales of drinking coffee and serve participants 3 min
Nescafe coffee to prepare for effective power nap:
Caffeine takes about 20-30 minutes to take effectiveness, just
enough time to nap. In this way, the benefits are twofold: sound
rest is ensured and drowsiness after power nap is prevented.4
14Ririan
(2009), Top ten ways to nap smarter and better, Nov 25, 2009, last access: May 30, 2010 URL:
http://ririanproject.com/2007/11/25/top-10-ways-to-power-nap-smarter-and-better/
Page 18 of 26
Adjust lighting and music background to induce students into 6 min
effective power nap
Offer audience choices of power nap music, including ‘nap sounds
natural’, ‘nap sounds classic’ and ‘nap sounds electronic’. 15
Block out all light in computer lab
Power nap
20 min
Adjust lighting and music background to arouse students from 3 min
drowsiness of power nap
Power nap music will automatically switch to the second phase,
which gently arouse people from sleep
Turn on light in computer lab
Provide cool water to refresh people’s mind
Feedback on power nap workshop
5 min
Ask participants to fill in a survey in order to access the
effectiveness of workshop
15
Napsoundshome (2008), last access May 30, 2010, URL: http://www.napsounds.com/technology.html
All three sound tracks have been proven effective experimentally in creating ideal music background for
power nap. They are able to block outside sound and enable participants’ mind to concentrate on relaxation.
They also capitalize on binaural beats which directly influence brainwaves using natural frequency. The
sound tracks are also effective in inducing a relaxed and sleep state in the first phase of soundtrack and then
boost alertness and concentration in the second phase of soundtrack and hence wake participants up from
drowsiness after power nap.
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Feasibility and Manageability
Power nap workshop is highly feasible because of low cost involvement in
organizing workshop. The following is a cost-analysis of diagram of holding a
power nap workshop:
Item
Cost/SD$
1. Nescafe 3 in 1 (40 packages)
15.3
2. Disposable cups (80 cups)
5
3. Hot water
0
4. Booking of computer room
0
Total: 20.3
The workshop also promises high popularity due to the prominence of the
problem of lack of sleep among students and the interactive programmes
during workshop. The main difficulties that we may face in realizing this
proposal are:
1. Publicity
Problem:
Students may not be well-informed of the information and benefit of power
nap workshops.
Solution:
Page 20 of 26
Posters will be put up in school where power nap workshops are held to
inform and attract students in attending this workshop.
2. Effectiveness
Problem:
Interaction with workshop participants is an important component of power
nap workshop. Hence it is important to adjust the content of workshop to cater
to the need of audience.
Solution:
In order to respond to need to audience and access the effectiveness of
workshop, a feedback form will be collected at the end of each session.
Corresponding adjustment of workshop content will be made to benefit
audience most through this power nap workshop.
Problem:
The workshop may not have a widespread effect since only a small group of
students can attend the workshop at each time.
Solution:
Follow-up actions: Cultivate student conductors of effective power nap
workshops among different schools by passing on the knowledge and
materials, such as power nap soundtracks, to them in order to enable similar
workshops to be organized within each campus in future.
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Feedback on Power nap Workshop
Section I: Before workshop:
Yes No
1. Do you take power nap? (If yes, continue with Section I, if
no, proceed on to Section II)
2. Do you find power nap useful in your daily life?
3. Is power nap effective in enhancing your daily
performance?
4. Do you have problem with falling asleep within a short time
for power nap?
5. Do you find it difficult to wake up after power nap?
Section II: After workshop:
1. Do you think that this workshop enhance your
understanding of the benefit of power nap?
2. Are you more confident in managing your power nap after
workshop?
3. Do you plan to make use of the power nap tips when
taking power nap in future?
Further Suggestions (improvement on workshop, general feedback to
speaker, others):
End
Page 22 of 26
Poster for power nap workshop:
16
Picture at top left-hand corner
http://www.google.com.sg/imgres?imgurl=http://neuronarrative.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/sleep.jpg
&imgrefurl=http://neuronarrative.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/when-its-learn-or-lose-sleep-onit/&usg=__fqlnoCk2ntvCajDzI1hWV19_iH4=&h=300&w=450&sz=23&hl=zhCN&start=4&itbs=1&tbnid=F1pSmXXKbChdIM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsleep%26h
l%3Dzh-CN%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1
16
7. Picture at bottom right-hand corner
http://www.google.com.sg/imgres?imgurl=http://bp3.blogger.com/_WigxWmT65Jk/Rf6Os3aIeEI/AAAAA
AAAHGg/1zxmfl63fEE/s400/Power%252BNap.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sodahead.com/unitedstates/should-workers-be-allowed-to-powernap-at-work/question243331/&usg=__wjifayUqfEoW8tJTmMGYK3Pv6p4=&h=329&w=376&sz=15&hl=zhCN&start=7&itbs=1&tbnid=VxPgnhD17PBKiM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=122&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpower%2
Bnap%26hl%3Dzh-CN%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1
Page 23 of 26
Timeline:
May – Finish GPP, contact Singapore Sleep Society to enquire about the
feasibility of our idea, as well as find out more about the situation of lack of
sleep among students in Singapore. Complete EOM 1st draft.
June – Start gathering survey results on the existence of the problem of lack
of sleep among teens. Work on designing the organizer. Also find out more
about the success of various alternative education methods in Singapore by
consulting Ministry of Education. Prepare the content needed for producing
the organizers for trial
July –Distribute the organizers to our class for mini trial. Learn about power
nap and conduct power nap trial workshop. Conduct surveys to evaluate
success of mini trials
August – Show results to Singapore Sleep Society and gather their opinion
on the possibility of establishing the organizer as part of sleep awareness
campaigns
September– Work on written report and furnish all details which are lacking
November – Prepare for oral presentation
Page 24 of 26
Work allocation:
Chong Jin Jian-Design the sleep organizer. Research on possible formats for
organizers and come up with alternative designs for the target audience to
choose
Gao Helin- Plan details of the power nap workshop as well as the trial
workshop
Low Zuo Kai Nicholas – Conduct more indepth research on the case study,
liase with company to obtain required information on the possibility of mass
producing the organizers
Sim Meng Ying- Liase with Singapore Neurology and Sleep Centre and
Singapore Sleep Society to evaluate the potential of sleep organizer being
used as part of campaigns and obtain required information to be used in
campaigns or to be included in the sleep organizer
Zheng Xiaodong- Photographer, plan the details needed to execute the mini
trial for the sleep organizer
Page 25 of 26
Research sources:

Singapore Sleep Society admin@singaporesleepsociety.com Tel: (65)
6326 6624
http://www.singaporesleepsociety.com/index

National Sleep Foundation nsf@sleepfoundation.org Tel: (202) 347-
3471
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/

Grandluxe sales@grandluxe.com.sg
Head office: Grandluxe Pte Ltd 2 Chin Bee Avenue Singapore 619927
Tel: (65) 6268 5944
Fax: (65) 6264 1135
Page 26 of 26