Noisy classrooms 'hinder learning'
Noisy classrooms 'hinder learning'
By: Stacey Wood
School classrooms with similar acoustics to cafes are hindering children's ability to hear properly during lessons.
Wellington schoolchildren will be guinea pigs in a new Victoria University research project to improve classroom hearing. The Oticon Foundation has awarded a $13,000 grant to a team led by Natasha Perkins from the university's architecture school to find cost-effective ways to combat noise in schools.
Ms Perkins said studies had shown only 4 to 6 per cent of New Zealand classrooms met national acoustics standards allowing children to hear adequately during their lessons. Hard surfaces such as glass, concrete and linoleum caused sound to bounce around and create echoes, increasing noise levels.
Ms Perkins said that, having spent time in several classrooms observing noise levels, the effect of acoustics was huge. "You get what we call the cafe effect, when the children are working in groups – someone will be talking loudly so you talk more loudly to compete with them." Children would lose concentration if they could not focus on what they were being taught. "If they can't hear, they don't learn."
The Victoria team's research will use materials from Lower Hutt supplier Autex, and technical support from Marshall Day Acoustics. With the foundation's grant, Ms Perkins said she would now look for schools interested in taking part, with the study likely to begin in the new school year. "Obviously we can't include them all, but there are five to seven different types, for example those with concrete piles or prefabs – the range is quite standard."
The team hoped to test new acoustic products in each kind of classroom, as well as testing their effects on children with hearing impairments. Oticon Foundation secretary Karen Pullar said the charity hoped solutions created through the study would one day be used nationwide. "Research into our classrooms shows most are too noisy and children have difficulty hearing, which affects their ability to learn."
The grant was presented on Monday to coincide with the beginning of Deaf Awareness Week.