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EQUIP (Ensuring Quality and Unleashing Improved Performance) – # 4
Impact of Noise on Classroom Learning
A recent study, Impact of Noise on Classroom Learning, conducted by Gary Sieben, a University of Florida professor of architecture and researcher on classroom acoustics, and Carl Crandell, a University of Florida professor of communications sciences and disorders, reveals that noisy classrooms seriously impinge many students’ ability to learn. The study concluded that in visits to 47 Florida elementary, middle and high schools, the majority have background noise levels of between 40 and 55 decibels. The Federal Access Boar recommends a noise standard of 35 decibels.
Some key findings are:
- Students seated more than 12 feet away from the teacher in noisy classrooms heard 50 percent or less of the lecture. Given the common placement of desks in rows, that often meant that more than half of the students were not hearing everything the teacher had to say.
- The noise in schools most often came from air-conditioning units. Wall or window mounted air-conditioning units and heat pump or fan/coil units made noise that consistently exceeded the 35 decibels. Only central air-conditioning units were quiet enough for the standard
- Between 10 percent and 30 percent of students have some kinds of moderate or mild hearing loss caused by scarring from ear infections. Noisy classrooms exacerbate these students’ listening challenges.
- Students learning English as a second language, and students who suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder or other attention problems, also hear less in noisy classrooms.
- Students hear better in square rooms with ceilings less than 10 feet high than rectangular rooms or irregularly shaped rooms with higher ceilings.
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