Testing performance in complex listening tasks with primary school children in remote settings

Abstract

When assessing the impact of the classroom sound environment on students’ learning an approach as much ecological as possible is needed. Tasks should be presented collectively to the entire class in real-life scenarios, as during regular school-day activities, thus preserving self- and mutual perception of the students. However, in this specific era of pandemic, such an ecological approach cannot be pursued and new ways for testing students are necessary. In this study, the method used to present two experiments remotely to primary school children (8 to 10 year olds) is described. Online platforms with specific design tools and touch-screen devices were used to build and administer the tasks. Auditory stimuli were presented via headphones, whose effect was compensated by filtering. In the sound stimuli the typical reverberant environment of the classroom was simulated by auralization. Aiming to improve as much as possible the face validity of the experiments, the tests were presented collectively to the students in their classrooms even though each children performed the task individually and at his/her own pace. Moreover, the tasks were presented and explained by the experimenters by using interactive whiteboards, as during distance learning.