| Course | NU145 Psychology Across the Lifespan |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 6 |
| Paper type | Seminar reflection |
| Length | About 820 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BSN (prelicensure) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU145 Unit 6
Not Lazy, Just Later: Seminar Notes in Reflection, Written by a Composite Learner Who Believed Teenagers Sleep Late by Choice Until a Case of a Sixteen-Year-Old Asleep in First Period Showed a Body Clock Moving
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU145: Psychology Across the Lifespan
Unit 6 Seminar Reflection
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The seminar case and classmates are composite; the reflection discusses typical adolescent sleep and is not advice about any individual's sleep problem.
The Belief I Brought
I believed teenagers sleep late because they choose to. My own younger brother stayed up until one in the morning on his phone and could not get up for school, and my parents and I agreed it was a discipline problem. If he put the phone away and went to bed at ten, I thought, he would wake up rested.
The Case
Our instructor presented [Jordan], composite, 16, a junior whose grades had dropped in his first-period chemistry class. He fell asleep at his desk twice in October. His parents took his phone at nine every night for a week as an experiment. He went to bed at ten, lay awake, and fell asleep around midnight anyway. On weekends, left alone, he slept from about one in the morning until eleven and woke feeling fine. On school days his alarm went off at six.
The Turn in the Room
Asked what the phone-free week showed, I said it showed he needed more time to adjust. A classmate who had worked on a pediatric unit disagreed: if the phone were the cause, removing it should have moved his sleep earlier, and it did not. The instructor then asked why his weekend sleep was long, easy and refreshing, and someone answered that it looked like the sleep of a person sleeping at the right time for his body. That was when the belief started to give way.
The phone-free week was the turning point: we took away the reason I had blamed, and he still could not fall asleep before midnight.
What Replaced It
The instructor walked us through the research. As puberty progresses, the timing of the internal clock moves later, so the evening release of the sleep hormone melatonin and the feeling of sleepiness come later than in childhood. At the same time, the pressure to sleep builds more slowly across the day, so teenagers can stay awake longer in the evening without feeling tired (Crowley et al., 2007). Teenagers do not need less sleep than younger children; their need stays around nine hours, but a first bell at 7:20, evening practices and late homework all press against a clock that has already moved (Carskadon, 2011). Changes in both the circadian and the sleep-pressure systems during adolescence have been found across many species, not just in human teenagers, which suggests the shift is biological rather than a habit learned from screens (Hagenauer et al., 2009).
A Narrower Claim in Place of the Old One
My new view is not that screens and habits do not matter. Bright light at night can push the clock even later, and staying up for social reasons is real. But the starting point is biological. A sixteen-year-old in bed at ten may simply not be able to fall asleep, and asking him to try harder will not fix it. The more accurate claim is that adolescent sleep problems come from a biological shift colliding with a schedule built for a different body clock, made worse by evening light and busy lives.
Why I Held the Belief
I held it because I had one example, my brother, and an explanation that fit our family's values about discipline. Nobody had told me that the body clock changes in adolescence, and it never occurred to me that his easy weekend sleep was a clue. I treated a pattern I did not understand as a choice I disapproved of.
What I Will Watch For
If I work with adolescents or their parents, I will ask about weekend sleep, not only school-night sleep, since a large gap suggests a clock out of step with the schedule. I will suggest dimming lights and screens in the evening and getting morning light, while being honest that these help but do not erase the shift. And I will not describe a teenager's tiredness as laziness.
What Still Puzzles Me
I do not understand why the shift reverses in the early twenties, or why some teenagers are affected much more than others. I also wonder how much a later school start actually helps when evening activities and homework expand to fill the extra time. And I want to know how this connects to the identity questions we discussed last week: a teenager who is always tired may also be judged, by himself and others, as unmotivated, and that judgment could shape who he thinks he is.
References
Carskadon, M. A. (2011). Sleep in adolescents: The perfect storm. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 58(3), 637-647. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcl.2011.03.003
Crowley, S. J., Acebo, C., & Carskadon, M. A. (2007). Sleep, circadian rhythms, and delayed phase in adolescence. Sleep Medicine, 8(6), 602-612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2006.12.002
Hagenauer, M. H., Perlman, J. I., & Lee, T. M. (2009). Adolescent changes in the homeostatic and circadian regulation of sleep. Developmental Neuroscience, 31(4), 276-284. https://doi.org/10.1159/000216538
Reading the NU 145 Unit 6 instructions
Unit 6 commonly asks for a reflection on a seminar or discussion about adolescence, focused on how the student's thinking changed. Prompts typically want the belief or assumption brought to the seminar, the moment in the discussion that challenged it, the evidence that supported a new view, why the old view was held and how the new understanding will shape future practice. Instructors look for an honest account of change rather than a summary of the seminar, and for evidence that the new view is accurate. Reflections are personal but still cite sources for factual claims. Written as I, it usually fills two or three pages and ends with a short APA 7 reference list.
How the NU 145 Unit 6 example is put together
The reflection begins with the belief and its source, a younger brother up late on his phone. The seminar case follows: the grades, the phone-free week and the easy weekend sleep. A section on the turn in the room records the writer's first answer, a classmate's challenge and the question that shifted the discussion, with a highlighted line on the phone-free week. The replacement view explains the later clock and slower sleep pressure, citing two sleep reviews and a cross-species study. A narrower claim replaces the old one, with a margin note. The writer explains why the belief was held, lists what to watch for and closes with three questions still open.
Where the points sit in the NU145 Unit 6 rubric
Reflection rubrics in NU 145 usually award points for identifying the prior belief, describing the turning point, supporting the new understanding with evidence, depth of self-examination, application and writing. Prior belief points depend on stating the old view clearly with its source. Turning point points reward a specific moment in the discussion. Evidence points go to accurate research on adolescent sleep, cited correctly. Self-examination points are earned by explaining why the belief was held. Application points require concrete actions, such as asking about weekend sleep. Writing points cover first-person clarity and APA format. A replacement claim that is narrower and better supported tends to score higher than a complete reversal.
NU145 Unit 6 help from the desk
Seminar reflections commonly lose points by summarizing what classmates said without showing how the writer's own view changed. Another frequent mistake is swinging from one extreme to the other, from teens are lazy to screens do not matter, without evidence for the new position. Some students skip why they held the old belief, which is where the most useful insight usually lies. Others list future actions too vague to check. Name your belief and where it came from, describe the moment it was challenged, support the new view with research, explain why you believed the old one and say what you will do differently. Leave space for what still puzzles you.
Get an NU145 Unit 6 example written to your instructions
Adolescence seminars move between identity, puberty timing, risk and social media depending on the section. Describe the belief carried into the Unit 6 hour and what pushed against it, adding the rubric or any written alternative, and a first-person model of that shift gets drafted. A first custom sample is free; expect it in 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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NU145 Unit 6 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NU145 Unit 6 sample paper?
A complete NU145 Unit 6 seminar reflection is on this page, tracing a student's shift from seeing teen sleep as a choice to understanding the later adolescent body clock, with three sources. Tell us about your own seminar and we can help shape the reflection.
Why do teenagers fall asleep later?
During puberty the internal clock shifts later, so melatonin and sleepiness arrive later in the evening, and sleep pressure builds more slowly across the day.
Do teenagers need less sleep than children?
No. Research suggests their need stays around nine hours. Their sleep is shortened by a later clock meeting early school schedules and evening demands.
Why did the phone-free week matter in NU145 Unit 6?
Removing the phone did not move his sleep earlier, which showed the phone was not the main cause and pointed to a biological shift.
What can help adolescent sleep?
Dim light and fewer screens in the evening and bright light in the morning can help, though they do not erase the shift. Later school start times are also discussed.