How do you prepare for an exam? Do you cram and pull and all-nighter? Do you wake up early and eat a well-balanced breakfast? Well, what if I told you that you could improve your test scores simply by drinking water during an exam?
Water plays a huge role when it comes to our bodies. It could even affect our ability to focus! According to Absopure.com, “water transports oxygen to the brain, which allows it to communicate important messages to the rest of the body”. So, one’s concentration levels can be affected significantly by even the slightest lack of hydration.
Chris Pawson, a scientist from the University of East London, conducted a study to see if drinking water during exams would improve test performance. He observed 447 undergraduate students across three different groups of students and what beverages they took into exams. The students who took water (and also consumed the water during the exam) scored significantly higher than those who didn’t. Dr Pawson said: “The results imply that the simple act of bringing water into an exam was linked to an improvement in students’ grades. There are several physiological and psychological reasons that might explain this improvement with water consumption.”
So, this study does not make it clear if drinking water itself can cause exam scores to improve. It could simply be the psychological affects of bringing water itself into the exam. Whatever the explanation, the next time you take an exam, bring water!
Resources:
http://www.absopure.com/blog/refresh-your-senses/can-drinking-water-make-you-smarter/
http://www.uel.ac.uk/news/press-releases/2012/04/waterexams.htm
One flaw that I have found in this study was the fact that we do not know if it the water that caused the better exam scores. For example, the reason a student may choose a beverage like coffee over water is because they may have stayed up late studying. If one is sleep deprived and ill prepared for a test it is unlikely that the beverage will make a difference.
This is an interesting post. As some people mentioned in the comments, I always have my water in backpack for no reason. If I could improve my grade by simply drinking water, I would drink as much as I can. If this really works, then we could ask the consequences of drinking water? The more you drink, the more you’ll likely to go to the bath room. Then, going back and forth to the bathroom can be disturbing to your studies.
Although. drinking water has many benefits to your body, I also think it is just a psychological idea people believe that water can improve the test grade. Water has substance in it that triggers your brain to think better or to help you to memorize more.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2014112/Drinking-water-bad-health-Benefits-myth.html
I always bring water to class and I never thought that it would benefit my school work! Water does allow for more oxygen to flow to the brain, which helps the brain translate messages to the rest of the body. Water can also make a person feel full, so this may also help students concentrate more in class. Water has nothing but benefits (unless you drink an unhealthy excessive amount), so people should try to drink more water in general-whether its to help your skin glow more or possibly do better in school.
Although there this not consistent evidence to prove that drinking water improves exam scores, I am not surprised that there is a possible link between the two. Drinking water has a wide range of positive effects from helping lose weight to reducing risk of cancer. However it never really occurred to me that drinking water could improve my performance in school. More often than not, better concentration is linked with eating a healthy breakfast every morning so it seems plausible to say that keeping yourself hydrated can also have the same effect (especially since the brain consists of 90% of water). People should be drinking water at all times of the day no matter what however this topic makes me raise the question of whether or not drinking water in the morning is more beneficial than drinking coffee.
http://www.mangosteen-natural-remedies.com/benefits-of-drinking-water.html#.VEk_cku4klI
This is such an interesting topic for a blog! I really like it! I think what you have is great but you can definitely describe a little more of the study!
I’ve heard that water can help you lose weight, but I never thought it could help with exam scores. This was very interesting – I’ll be sure to bring a water bottle to my next exam or to at least have on near by when I’m taking an exam for this class! This article can definitely back up your argument! http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/drinking-water-linked-higher-test-scores-kids-study-article-1.371530