At the end of each university semester thousands of students face the stress of end of course assignments and exams.
How do they cope?
Research from the University of Auckland reveals that around one in sixteen students use cognitive enhancer drugs, such as the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug Ritalin, to stay focused. In some cases this drug will have been prescribed while others obtain it illegally. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11272952
Similarly the use of cognitive enhancers in UK universities has hit the headlines. Although final exams are around three months away, students are feeling the pressure of exam preparation.
For many in the UK Mondafinil is the enhancer of choice, as the UK's Guardian reports:
'Modafinil: a prescription-only medication for narcolepsy that the NHS’s website describes as “a central nervous system stimulant” that prevents “excessive sleepiness during daytime hours”. Or, used off-label, bought via some off-shore pharmaceutical retailer, it’s what’s known as a “smart drug”. I hadn’t even heard of it a week ago, but it turns out they’re all on it, the students. They’ve all taken it on at least a couple of occasions, all five of the female final-year students who live in this particular flat, and all five of the male final-year students they’ve invited over to dinner.
“It’s not that it makes you more intelligent,” says Phoebe, a history student. “It’s just that it helps you work. You can study for longer. You don’t get distracted. You’re actually happy to go to the library and you don’t even want to stop for lunch. And then it’s like 7pm, and you’re still, ‘Actually, you know what? I could do another hour.’”
But isn’t it cheating? Or like doping in cycling? If lots of people are doing it, it’s too much of a disadvantage not to join in?'
There are two main perspectives in relation to the use of cognitive enhancers by students:
Firstly, while taken at low doses there may be minimal health risks, but when taken over longer periods of time and in unregulated doses, there is concern that this may cause increased anxiety and potential cardiovascular problems. While some students may have been prescribed this drug, others may have been supplied with it illegally without any access to the monitoring of such side effects.
Secondly, the use of 'cognitive enhancer' drugs in education raises interesting ethical issues. Should their use be seen as similar to the use of enhancing drugs in sport? How might an unfair advantage be measured? If an advantage is identified would students using prescribed Ritalin be exempt, given that without the drug they may be disadvantaged? What about non-prescription enhancing drugs such as NoDoze awakeners and even caffeine?
If assessment fairness is valued by the university how might they address this issue?
Would random enhancer drug testing, as The New Zealand Herald article above suggests, be worth considering?
What do you think?
Image source
It is proposed that university students should be randomly tested for the use of cognitive enhancers