Again unqualified advice, but just some info I picked up while studying Migraine.
Just for the moment, forget floaters. The ‘shadows' that these cast, are very leisurely in their movement, but I'm guessing the sparkles are fairly rapid. If this is true, don't worry...but yes, have it checked out.
Check to see if they vanish for a while when you blink, then build up again. This is important.
Check that the symptom is roughly even in both eyes.
The blood supply to the retina is, like the rest of the eye, utterly miraculous. It has to be conveyed in a manner that allows many hundreds of tiny movements (that's how the cells reset) and sometimes hundreds of large movements a minute. ( Scanning instruments for instance.) all without constricting the flow...and then do it for up to a hundred years.
It seems that if there is long term heavy use, like long drives when tired and / or studying, the entire system will occasionally become "noisy", as in the white spots on a T/V with a weak signal. Your doctor might want to check various other factors, in particular diabetes. Don't be alarmed though, thousands of people have this symptom for no apparent reason at all. But then it goes away with time.
It is almost as though you can see the blood movement as it reaches a certain curved point in its travel, and I would be interested to know the precise mechanism that takes place if anyone knows or finds a good site.
I'm not sure if anything this small falls into the category of Photopsias, but whatever the term, they can be in the form of tadpole like black images (negative ) or scintillating white (Poitive).
I recall going to my GP fifty years ago, with some of these displayed as negative They went away in about 3 days.
Good readers–or prescription glasses, good sunglasses, and periods of total relaxation of the visual system will do nothing but good while you are studying. Make an effort not to tense up while soaking up all this bumph. Easier said than done!!