The effects of classroom noise on the reading comprehension of adolescents.

An investigation has been carried out to examine the impact of different levels of classroom noise on adolescents' performance on reading and vocabulary-learning tasks. A total of 976 English high school pupils (564 aged 11 to 13 years and 412 aged 14 to 16 years) completed reading tasks on laptop computers while exposed to different levels of classroom noise played through headphones. The tasks consisted of reading science texts, which were followed by multiple-choice questions probing comprehension and word learning.

The acoustic environment of inpatient hospital wards in the United Kingdom.

Many hospital noise surveys have shown that patients are subject to high levels of noise, in excess of current World Health Organization guidelines. Much of the previous research has focused on areas perceived to be noisy, such as intensive care units and operating theatres. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive noise survey of five general inpatient hospital wards in the UK.

A survey of acoustic conditions and noise levels in secondary school classrooms in England.

An acoustic survey of secondary schools in England has been undertaken. Room acoustic parameters and background noise levels were measured in 185 unoccupied spaces in 13 schools to provide information on the typical acoustic environment of secondary schools. The unoccupied acoustic and noise data were correlated with various physical characteristics of the spaces.

Adolescents' perceptions of their school's acoustic environment: the development of an evidence based questionnaire.

A poor acoustic environment in a school is known to negatively affect pupils' learning and achievement. This paper presents the design and findings of an online questionnaire survey of 11-16 year olds' impressions of their school's acoustic environment. A total of 2588 English secondary school pupils responded to the questionnaire.

The impact of sound-field systems on learning and attention in elementary school classrooms.

Purpose: The authors evaluated the installation and use of sound-field systems to investigate the impact of these systems on teaching and learning in elementary school classrooms. Methods The evaluation included acoustic surveys of classrooms, questionnaire surveys of students and teachers, and experimental testing of students with and without the use of sound-field systems. In this article, the authors report students' perceptions of classroom environments and objective data evaluating change in performance on cognitive and academic assessments with amplification over a 6-month period.

A survey of acoustic conditions in semi-open plan classrooms in the United Kingdom.

This paper reports the results of a large scale, detailed acoustic survey of 42 open plan classrooms of varying design in the UK each of which contained between 2 and 14 teaching areas or classbases. The objective survey procedure, which was designed specifically for use in open plan classrooms, is described. The acoustic measurements relating to speech intelligibility within a classbase, including ambient noise level, intrusive noise level, speech to noise ratio, speech transmission index, and reverberation time, are presented.

Noise in open plan classrooms in primary schools: a review.

This paper presents a review of research carried out in the past 40 years into various aspects of noise in open plan classrooms. The emergence of open plan classroom design in response to progressive educational reforms is discussed. A limited amount of evidence of the effects of noise in open plan classrooms is presented.

The effects of environmental and classroom noise on the academic attainments of primary school children.

While at school children are exposed to various types of noise including external, environmental noise and noise generated within the classroom. Previous research has shown that noise has detrimental effects upon children's performance at school, including reduced memory, motivation, and reading ability. In England and Wales, children's academic performance is assessed using standardized tests of literacy, mathematics, and science.

Children's perceptions of their acoustic environment at school and at home.

This paper describes the results of a large-scale questionnaire survey that ascertained children's perceptions of their noise environment and the relationships of the children's perceptions to objective measures of noise. Precision, specificity, and consistency of responding was established through the use of convergent measures. Two thousand and thirty-six children completed a questionnaire designed to tap (a) their ability to discriminate different classroom listening conditions; (b) the noise sources heard at home and at school; and (c) their annoyance by these noise sources.

External and internal noise surveys of London primary schools.

Internal and external noise surveys have been carried out around schools in London, UK, to provide information on typical levels and sources to which children are exposed while at school. Noise levels were measured outside 142 schools, in areas away from flight paths into major airports. Here 86% of the schools surveyed were exposed to noise from road traffic, the average external noise level outside a school being 57 dB L(Aeq).