Using a smartphone to investigate classroom acoustics

Abstract

We present a proposal for active learning about environmental acoustics and room acoustics for high school and undergraduate students. Students work on the concepts of sound pressure level and reverberation time through a set of activities centred on speech communication in the school. For experimental work, they use smartphone applications for sound measurement. At the end of the work, students would be able to suggest some actions to improve the acoustic comfort in school. The students’ interest increases as they focus on their own experience. Moreover, they can apply and test the solutions that they propose.