Focusing on the problem of noise in the classroom and its relationship to learning, it is essential to talk about Italian physics Arianna Astolfi. This woman, who studied building physics at the University of Turin, decided to focus its research on acoustic conditioning of classrooms. The reason, their children.
When they started school they complained that they did not understand their teachers well. She decided to talk to the school and attended several classroom sessions with the children. She could see how stressful the sound environment was in those rooms, which, moreover, belonged to old buildings and were not built with acoustics in mind when teaching a class.
This, together with meetings with teachers and school staff, led him to begin his research and outreach work on the relationship between classroom acoustics and learning.
In her work as a researcher, assesses the acoustic environment of 51 secondary school classrooms and monitored teachers' speech within them. He observed how this influenced students' performance and concentration obtaining results very surprising, such as, for example:
- The student conversations in classrooms were the most annoying source of noise while intermittent noises, such as footsteps, were more annoying than the constant ones.
- His work led to the IO ASCALTO' project whose aim is to help children with dyslexia to cope with their condition through improved acoustics. This is because there is a strong theoretical basis for this link between dyslexia and auditory processing in the brain, which results in a mismatch between the rhythm of speech and its neural activation.
- It concluded that reverberation times around 0.75 seconds are beneficial for the teacher's speech. The teacher's own voice must be used in order to get the message across clearly to the class, as well as in terms of the sound effort the teacher has to make with his or her voice.
- He was able to determine the existence of a significant relationship between speech clarity and reading speed in children.
All the work led by Astolfi led to an Italian standard that was approved in 2020, UNI 11532-2:2020.The standard defines the acoustic descriptors representing the acoustic quality, and the reference values for the school, communicative/collective, collective, small conference rooms and/or multifunctional sectors.
Although this rule currently only applicable in Italy, it is a major step forward as a benchmark for the rest of the countries..
The consequences of poor acoustic conditioning
Some of the consequences caused by poor acoustic conditioning The classroom environment in which the learning task takes place that we can list are:
- Difficulty understanding wordsIn an environment with high reverberation, words may blend and overlap, making speech difficult to understand. This can negatively affect the process of language development and communication, as well as the comprehension of the information presented.
- Decreased attention and concentration: Background noise caused by reverberation can distract students and reduce their ability to concentrate on the task at hand. This can negatively affect information retention and active participation in the learning process.
- Behavioural problems: Constant exposure to noise is associated with changes in children's behaviour, including irritability, aggressiveness and difficulty concentrating.
- Auditory processing problems: A highly reverberant environment can make auditory processing difficult, especially for children with learning difficulties. This can result in difficulties in following instructions, processing verbal information and understanding key concepts.
- Auditory fatigue: Continuous exposure to a noisy environment due to reverberation can lead to auditory fatigue. Auditory fatigue can make it more difficult for students to stay engaged in learning throughout the day.
Keys to optimal acoustic conditioning
From all that has been collected in this post, we can conclude that the acoustic conditioning of the classroom, it is not only a improvement in the learning process in itself, but also in what it concerning health medium and long term of the teacher, to the classroom environment in terms of students' behaviour, or a lack of reduced levels of stress and anxiety both students and teachers.
The technology offered by ISINAC through its acoustic conditioning solutions. The use of a system for the reduction of echo and reverberation is a source of acoustic comfort characterised by the fact that it is: - Easy to install - Customisable according to the design and use of the room - High performance and low environmental impact - Flame retardant and hypoallergenic but above all effective If you are working on a project of this kind, or you know someone who suffers the consequences of poor acoustic conditioning in the classroom on a daily basis, don't hesitate and get in touch with us. It is a big problem that with ISINAC has a quick and easy solution. Finally, if you have some time, I invite you to meet LEO, a child with hearing difficulties who tells us how his life has changed thanks to ISINAC acoustic panels.