Conference_programme: 18.1 - Effect of room acoustics and noise on speech intelligibility and task performance in schools
Lecture: Capturing the impacts of poor classroom acoustic in high school pupils
Author(s): Dockrell Julie, Connolly Daniel , Mydlarz Charles, Cox Trevor, Conetta Robert, Shield Bridget
Summary:
There is increasing evidence that noise levels in schools impact on pupils learning and attainment. However, the extent to which noise levels impact on performance once contextual factors such as pupils’ age, school and learning needs are controlled for has not been addressed. The current study examines the impact of two different realistic noise levels recorded in classrooms, on the performance of high school pupils on reading comprehension tasks, numeracy and mathematical reasoning. School factors and within pupil differences were controlled for in the analyses. Nine-hundred and seventy-six pupils, aged 11- to 16-years, completed bespoke tasks measuring reading comprehension, numerical reasoning, and arithmetic. Classroom noise was presented in two conditions reflecting the maximum (70 dB) and minimum (50 dB) levels of classroom noise observed as secondary school pupils engaged in individual work. Using linear regression analyses we explored the ways in which noise levels impact on the high school students’ accuracy and latency to respond to the tasks. Once school and within pupils factors were controlled no added variance was accounted for by exposure level on any of the reading tasks. By contrast, for both latency and accuracy, in the numeracy and mathematical reasoning tasks noise exposure contributed significantly to the models. It is argued that numeracy and mathematical reasoning tasks are particularly vulnerable to the effect of classroom noise due to the demands these tasks place on information processing resources. The importance of considering both pupil and school factors on experimental studies aiming to elucidate the impact is emphasized.
Corresponding author
Name: Prof Julie Dockrell
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Country: United Kingdom
