Conference_programme: 18.1 - Effect of room acoustics and noise on speech intelligibility and task performance in schools
Lecture: Effect of sound absorption in a classroom on class activities: A field experiment on the installation of sound-absorbing materials in kindergarten
Author(s): Noguchi Saki, Tominaga Takuma, Ueno Kanako, Kawai Keiji, Yoshida Arata, Katakawa Tomoko
Summary:
Issues in the sound environment, e.g., noise, exist in recent facilities of early childhood education and care in Japan. These issues are possibly caused by insufficient sound absorption and low awareness of the teacher towards the sound environment. The installation of sound-absorbing materials in classrooms has been reported to be effective in solving these issues. The mitigation of noise and improvement in word intelligibility has been studied, but their effect on class activities is unclear. Therefore, our research objective is to determine the sound absorption effect on the behavior of children and teachers.\nWe conducted herein an experiment involving the installation of sound-absorbing materials on the ceiling of kindergarten classrooms. We performed a sound environment survey, a behavioral observation, and an interview with teachers in each period before, during, and after the installation. Then, the change of the sound environment was analyzed and its effect on the behavior of children and teachers were extracted. Accordingly, it was first confirmed that the effect of noise reduction was equivalent to that in a previous report on the sound environment. In terms of children’s activities, the frequency at which children raised excessively loud voices decreased. Moreover, the teacher could easily listen to the children’s voices, thereby smoothing his/her communication with the children even when various sounds were existed in the same space. However, the appropriateness of musical activities was an issue. Although listening sound under the installation condition was evaluated as easier, the pleasantness of listening decreased; preference in the trade-off depended on the purpose of the activity.
Corresponding author
Name: Dr Saki Noguchi
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Country: Japan
