Classroom Acoustics and the Effect on Learning
 Childhood
is a time of intensive, continuous learning. Both inside and outside
the classroom, children practise and develop their social, intellectual
and communication skills in a variety of situations. The classroom
experience is an opportunity to focus on these critical skills in
a controlled environment and provide the stimuli needed to help
a child realize his or her full potential.
One of the corner stones of a child's early education is the development
of language skills. An instinctive grasp of phonetic structure and
grammatical rules comes about only through repeated exposure to
clear, unambiguous auditory interaction with parents, teachers and
peers. Too often such interaction is corrupted or inhibited by the
acoustical environment in which it takes place.
The harmful effect of noise on young children has been well documented.
Apart from physiological hearing damage from prolonged exposure,
a noisy environment can dull a child's listening skills. Children
can lose the ability to distinguish some of the subtle speech components
(see below) essential to the mastery of language. Too many children
accept noise as the natural background to their activities at home,
in daycare or in public places. The classroom should provide a model
for an environment that facilitates communication for all children
regardless of their backgrounds or handicaps.
Two important characteristics of an acoustically optimized classroom
are a low background noise level and a low reverberation time. The
background noise may be from a heating/ventilation unit, activity
in an adjacent classroom or corridor, traffic or aircraft noise,
student activity within the classroom, or any combination of these.
Reverberation is the multiple reflections of sounds within a room
that can prolong and distort the original sound components. Speech
intelligibility is compromised when a soft vocal element is masked
by the reflected sound of a preceding louder element. Reverberation
also has the effect of amplifying background noises.
Communication over a high background noise can be assisted with
a voice amplification (sound field) system. A reverberant room,
however, cannot be improved electronically and a "live"
room must be treated with sound absorbing materials over the reflecting
surfaces. Sound absorption also helps to reduce background noise
levels and, by improving speech intelligibility, reduces the need
for raised voices.
Many older schools built with high, concrete ceilings and equipped
with individual room heating/ventilation units will not meet the
recommended standards without modification. The first step should
be an noise survey to measure background levels, noise isolation
and the reverberation characteristics of the room. Corrective action
may require the installation of noise absorption panels to the walls
and celings. Seals on doors and windows can reduce noise from outside.
Eckel can help, call now or send us an e-mail.
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