Perception of teachers and pupils to the acoustics of classrooms

Abstract

The present survey has evaluated the acoustic characteristics of classrooms built as modular classrooms. The study has focused on the background noise, reverberation time, noise insulation and interviews with teachers and pupils. The acoustic comfort of classrooms in a Brazilian public school has been evaluated through interviews with 62 teachers and 464 pupils. Acoustic measurements have revealed the poor acoustic quality of the classrooms. The walls between the classrooms and the corridor have permanent ventilation openings on glassy bricks. The measured weighted apparent sound reduction index (ISO 140‐4; ISO 717‐1) for the wall, with a door and glassy brick, was R'w = 17 dB. The low value of the weighted apparent sound reduction index R'w= 17 dB contributes significantly to the noise transmission from one room to the other, contributing to the elevated levels of background noise inside the classrooms. Interviews with teachers and pupils have shown that the main noise sources noted in the classrooms originate inside the school: voices of students and of the teacher of the neighboring classroom.