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Hearing and understanding are important parts of the learning process. A noisy classroom can make these tasks difficult. Noise in the classroom is more than students talking. There are other factors that make it hard to hear and understand in the classroom.
Acoustics is a term used to talk about how sound travels in a room. There are factors in the room design that may make sounds louder or softer. Examples include floor rugs, ceiling type, and air ducts. Classroom acoustics is the term for these issues in schools.
Two things cause poor classroom acoustics: too much background noise and/or too much reverberation.
Background noise is any sound that makes it hard to hear. In a classroom, background noise can come from many places, including the following:
Reverberation describes how sounds act in a room after they first happen. Sounds stay in the room when they bounce off desks or walls. If many sounds do this at once, it can get very loud.
When classroom acoustics are poor, it can cause problems with how a student
It is important to keep the classroom as quiet as possible for all children.
A quiet classroom helps teachers and students. It is especially important to have a quiet room if a student has
Teachers also do better if there are good classroom acoustics. Talking in a loud classroom strains the teacher’s voice and may lead to voice problems.
It is important to think about background noise and reverberation in any space used for learning. Some simple ways to make a classroom quieter include the following:
A brochure on The Noisy Classroom is available through the ASHA bookstore.