Acoustics Course Research Articles

Lab kits for remote and socially distanced instruction in a GE Acoustics Course

A lab kit that has been developed for teaching a general education acoustics course online has proven useful for socially distanced instruction in seated courses as well. This presentation will give an overview of the kit and experiences with adapting and using it to provide flexibility for students in all modalities of instruction during COVID-19.

Aspects of teaching online during COVID-19 that I want to retain when returning to a “normal” classroom environment

For ten years I have been teaching graduate level acoustics courses simultaneously to 15–20 resident students and 20–25 distance education students. Prior to COVID-19, I live-streamed my lectures from a specially equipped multimedia classroom, but my attention during any given class period was primarily focused on the resident students sitting in the classroom. Any interaction with the 5–8 distance students attending my “live” lectures was limited to sporadic short questions posted to a chat window. During COVID-19, I have been teaching entirely online from my home and all 25-30 students (both resident and distance) who attend “live” class meetings participate in the same way: online through Zoom. As I reflect on 2.5 semesters of teaching acoustics to both resident and distant graduate students entirely online, there are several positive aspects of my online interactions with students that I hope to retain when I return to a “normal” classroom environment. In this presentation I will share several of the ways I successfully engaged and interacted with students while teaching online, both during and outside of class meetings. I will also discuss possible challenges of bringing some of those positive online interactions back into a “normal” classroom setting.

The learning effect of an active-learning room-acoustics coursework

This paper investigates the learning effect of a developed coursework for an engineering acoustics course offered to fourth year and postgraduate engineering students at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. The coursework incorporated practical active-learning activities and was developed to help students gain understanding of complex concepts related to the room-acoustics measurement and analysis and also introduce students to some of the practical tasks that are typical of a practising acoustical engineer in New Zealand. The learning effect of the coursework was measured by comparing students' performance in two quizzes that were run before and after students worked on the coursework. Students' performance on the final examination was also analyzed. An analysis of the common mistakes made by students in the assignment report was also conducted. Overall, the analysis suggests that the coursework generally improved the students' understanding of the material that it covered.

Musical acoustics course in the teaching system of music software technologies in higher education institutions

Musical acoustics course in the teaching system of music software technologies in higher education institutions

Graduate acoustics education in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin

While graduate study in acoustics takes place in several colleges and schools at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), including Communication, Fine Arts, Geosciences, and Natural Sciences, this poster focuses on the acoustics program in Engineering. The core of this program resides in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). Acoustics faculty in each department supervise graduate students in both departments. One undergraduate and nine graduate acoustics courses are taught in ME and ECE. Instructors for these courses include staff at Applied Research Laboratories at UT Austin, where many of the graduate students have research assistantships. The undergraduate course, taught every fall, begins with basic physical acoustics and proceeds to draw examples from different areas of engineering acoustics. Three of the graduate courses are taught every year: a two-course sequence on physical acoustics, and a transducers course. The remaining six graduate acoustics courses, taught in alternate years, are on nonlinear acoustics, underwater acoustics, ultrasonics, architectural acoustics, wave phenomena, and acoustic metamaterials. An acoustics seminar is held most Fridays during the long semesters, averaging over ten per semester since 1984. The ME and ECE departments both offer Ph.D. qualifying exams in acoustics.

Techniques that can be used in a musical acoustics course

A course in Musical Acoustics provides a unique opportunity to involve some innovative techniques in and out of the classroom. Our Physics of Music course is a thorough integration of physics and music.1 It starts with the mathematical structure of music and discusses musical styles and how they differ. After an introduction of related physics concepts, the physical structure and operation of instruments in the various groups are studied. Connection is made of the instruments and how they reproduce the mathematical nature of music. The course integrates different learning modes, some of which are not found in a typical physics course. The classes include lecture/demonstration, group discussions, in-class laboratories, guest lecturers and a final individual project encompassing many course elements. The constant connection between the physics and the music, along with varied learning techniques, including hands-on experience, provides a motivating approach for students to experience science in a familiar context. This talk will provide a brief course overview and discussion of the non-standard instruction elements used in the course. 1 For a detailed course description, see POMA18 (2014). DOI: 10.1121/1.4895817

Masters course in environmental and architectural acoustics in London: A route on to our Ph.D. programme

The Masters program in Environmental and Architectural Acoustics (MSc) from London South Bank University is taught at the School of the Built Environment and Architecture. This was the first Masters course at the University and has been running for more than 40 years. The MSc program is delivered on a two and four semester basis depending if taken on a full-time or part-time basis with a two semester exemption if the applicant has already been award an Institute of Acoustic Diploma. The course is focused on the application of tools to solve real world acoustic problems in the built environment. The Masters students spend 50% of the time in the laboratory undertaken practical's which either prove or disprove classical acoustic theory using the very latest acoustics equipment. The course culminates with a thesis which the student normally undertakes over the summer. The best dissertations are then put forward for international awards and then students present their work at national or international conference

Eigenfunction orthogonality for one-dimensional acoustic systems with interior or end point conditions.

Some common exercises presented in introductory acoustics courses and texts illustrate solutions involving eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Challenging extensions of these, even for one-dimensional (1D) systems, might involve a mass or spring loading the acoustic medium at an end point or at an interior point. These problems might be extended further by requiring that some given function be expanded in a series of the eigenfunctions, but such extended problems may lead to unexpected complications in regard to eigenfunction orthogonality. In this paper, Sturm-Liouville theory is used to develop a systematic method for predetermining eigenfunction orthogonality for 1D systems loaded at end points or interior points or having properties that change with jump discontinuities.

Integrating physics demonstrations in undergraduate audiology classroom

This paper focuses on the potential benefits of integrating physics demonstrations as a mediator for learning the physics of sound, acoustics and psychoacoustics in an undergraduate audiology classroom. The participants of this study were 54 first-year audiology students enrolled in the Physics of Sound and Acoustics course. According to the results, students’ physics achievement in a paper-pencil test (midterm exam) was found to be a good predictor for the good understanding of psychoacoustics. However, the results of a multiple regression analysis showed that student’s performance in physics demonstrations also mediate the process of learning in this course.

Investigating the connection between physics and music in an introductory acoustics course

Sound and music is an introductory acoustics course offered at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. The target audience is primarily non-science majors fulfilling their math and science requirements. Over the span of its 25 + year history it has regularly attracted students interested in majoring in music technology and acoustics. Emphasis of the course is placed on the physics of music and music theory with attention paid to the interconnection between atomic physics and music. Fourier’s Theorem is used in making this connection. Sound editing programs such as Amadeus allow students to visualize recorded or synthesized sounds, and then analyze their spectra using Fourier analysis. Most course activities have been developed in accordance with Physics Education Research techniques and are designed using a discovery-based approach. Several activities from Sound & Music were recently highlighted in an article published online by Physics Today titled Composing Atom Music. Although Rossing, Moore & Wheeler’s The Science of Sound is the primary text, course materials are drawn from numerous sources. This presentation will focus on the course design, how the text book is used and will discuss the design and implementation of sample class activities.Sound and music is an introductory acoustics course offered at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. The target audience is primarily non-science majors fulfilling their math and science requirements. Over the span of its 25 + year history it has regularly attracted students interested in majoring in music technology and acoustics. Emphasis of the course is placed on the physics of music and music theory with attention paid to the interconnection between atomic physics and music. Fourier’s Theorem is used in making this connection. Sound editing programs such as Amadeus allow students to visualize recorded or synthesized sounds, and then analyze their spectra using Fourier analysis. Most course activities have been developed in accordance with Physics Education Research techniques and are designed using a discovery-based approach. Several activities from Sound & Music were recently highlighted in an article published online by Physics Today titled Composing Atom Music. Although Rossing, Moore & Wheele...

Choosing a textbook for the way your students learn

This presentation describes the challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned in the selection and use of textbooks for a 10-week course in acoustics for undergraduate physics majors at the junior or senior level at Central Washington University. This course emphasizes both theoretical and experimental skills; topics include damped harmonic systems, vibration in strings, bars, and membranes, plane and spherical wave propagation in air, and basic geometric acoustics. Two textbooks are employed for this course: the recently published Understanding Acoustics by Steve Garrett and the fourth edition of Fundamentals of Acoustics by Kinsler and Frey, revised and extended by Coppins and Sanders. Although both cover essentially the same topics, they have different attributes that facilitate learning at the undergraduate level. They are supplemented by online materials, interactive simulations, and journal articles. Examples of how these texts are used, and assessments of their efficacy, will be discussed.This presentation describes the challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned in the selection and use of textbooks for a 10-week course in acoustics for undergraduate physics majors at the junior or senior level at Central Washington University. This course emphasizes both theoretical and experimental skills; topics include damped harmonic systems, vibration in strings, bars, and membranes, plane and spherical wave propagation in air, and basic geometric acoustics. Two textbooks are employed for this course: the recently published Understanding Acoustics by Steve Garrett and the fourth edition of Fundamentals of Acoustics by Kinsler and Frey, revised and extended by Coppins and Sanders. Although both cover essentially the same topics, they have different attributes that facilitate learning at the undergraduate level. They are supplemented by online materials, interactive simulations, and journal articles. Examples of how these texts are used, and assessments of their efficacy, will be discussed.

In search of the elusive perfect textbook

During my 24-year teaching career so far, besides teaching undergraduate service courses from standard textbooks, I have also taught a variety of advanced courses in acoustics, both at undergraduate and graduate levels. Some courses were well suited to a single textbook, especially when a well-written textbook existed matching course topics. Other times, it was difficult to find a single book covering all course topics at an appropriate level. Sometimes, the “best fit” book was no longer in print, and available alternatives were unsatisfactory for various reasons. For a few courses, I changed books every semester several times before finally finding something that worked. In this talk, I will discuss my experiences selecting, evaluating, and adopting textbooks for courses which I either developed myself (physics of waves, noise control engineering, acoustics of musical instruments) or for which I inherited an established syllabus from another faculty member (fundamentals of acoustics, theoretical acoustics, classical mechanics). I will discuss selection criteria I used to evaluate textbooks, including topical coverage, difficulty level, readability, homework problems, reviews, reputation, and price. I will also discuss what I did when I could not find a satisfactory textbook.

The University of New Orleans ocean acoustics program at the Stennis Space Center, Mississippi

In the late 1970's two US Navy ocean R&D organizations were formed and located at the Stennis Space Center (SSC), Mississippi, located approximately 50 miles East of the University of New Orleans (UNO). These two organizations employed nearly 1500 scientists, engineers, and technicians. Many of those with a Bachelor degree in physics, oceanography, or engineering desired advanced training in acoustics and signal processing. In 1982, George E. Ioup took the initiative to have UNO develop and teach acoustic courses on-site at the SSC. In the following 33 years, I developed 11 different graduate level courses in acoustics and taught them multiple times at the SSC. It was possible to take all the necessary courses needed for the Masters and PhD degrees on-site, while maintaining full-time employment. Several dozen Navy scientists received advanced degrees in physics with a specialty in acoustics from UNO. Many more received specific training in acoustics that enhanced their professional careers. This presentation will highlight my contribution to the UNO program at the SSC, and discuss how I incorporated my own research in ocean acoustic propagation and scattering into the many acoustic courses that I taught.

Opportunities for graduate studies in acoustics within the College of Engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln

A number of faculty in the College of Engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) conduct research in acoustics and mentor graduate students. Within the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, based at UNL’s Scott Campus in Omaha, Lily Wang and Erica Ryherd are active in architectural acoustics and noise (http://nebraskaacousticsgroup.org ). In Civil Engineering, Jinying Zhu (also based on UNL’s Scott Campus in Omaha) focuses in structural acoustics, using ultrasonic waves for concrete evaluation. In Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Joseph Turner (based at UNL’s City Campus in Lincoln) studies ultrasound propagation through complex media for quantitative characterization of materials/microstructure (http://quisp.unl.edu ). UNL is additionally home to an active student chapter of the Acoustical Society of America, the first to be founded in 2004. This poster will summarize the graduate-level acoustics courses and lab facilities at UNL within the College of Engineering, as well as the research interests and achievements of our faculty, graduates, and students.

Overhearing History: Sound as Historical Material

Overhearing History:Sound as Historical Material Pamela Jordan (bio) and Dr. Sabine von Fischer (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Swiss acoustician Franz Max Osswald's 1930 photographic study comparing concave fluting and troughs for sound propagation in a cinema hall, taken in a two-dimensional model filled with water. (ETH Image Library, ETH Zurich) [End Page 132] Dr. Sabine von Fischer is an architect, architectural critic, historian, and writer based in Zürich, Switzerland. Her research focuses on the interconnections of acoustics, sound, and architecture amid the technological advancements of the twentieth century. She has held research positions at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and ETH Zürich. She has lectured and published widely, including her recent book Das akustische Argument ("The acoustic argument"; Fischer, 2019; English translation is forthcoming). In the following interview, Pamela Jordan and Sabine von Fischer discuss recent interdisciplinary research projects, the challenges posed by considerations of sound in historic architecture, and the important role historians have to play in helping develop this understudied aspect of historic place. PJ: Sabine, it is a pleasure to speak with you today. You have researched and written extensively about sound in architecture. How did sound and epistemologies of acoustics first enter your work? SvF: I grew up in a musical family and enjoyed concerts, but when I studied architecture at ETH Zurich, I completely ignored the elective course in acoustics, as most of my classmates did. It was only later that I took the class, when I returned for my PhD in history and theory after practicing architecture for a number of years. It was a long detour before weaving acoustics into architecture, and I found upon arrival that there are many different ways of bringing these disciplines together. That also fascinated me. Acoustics is a discipline entangled with physics, psychology, neurology, communication, social studies, and many more fields besides architecture. In fact, one of the problems with the history of sound in architecture is the methodological challenge inherent in the multidisciplinarity of the subject. I think those who work professionally with acoustics have a very broad mind-set. And you cannot work with sound without acknowledging the complexity—that can be a wicked problem! PJ: So you really identified sound as an interdisciplinary question from the start. Did any of your PhD advisers have experience with the history of sound? SvF: Not really, not in relation to architecture. The complexity probably leads a lot of people to shy away from considering it historically. But I really enjoyed the interdisciplinary setting of the research because it helped me broaden my horizons to other disciplines and new ways of looking at architecture. [End Page 133] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 2. Artist Max Neuhaus's sonic study of the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue in New York City for his sonic art installation Times Square, 1977. (Silvia Neuhaus, private archive) I think it's important to bring an attention to sound into the field of architecture. My ambition is to do research not only from the traditional perspectives of art and architecture but also from the history of STS (science, technology, and society studies). This is where sound studies is often positioned. Something fundamental has changed in the history of architecture recently: the history of technology is no longer considered a separate field. So it was also important for me to bring these fields together. I also wanted to consider everyday situations and designs in my research rather than only major works, since most publications about architecture and sound so far have focused on concert halls and opera. PJ: That focus on the everyday is evident. Your research covers a wide range of subjects, from early acousticians' influence on architectural design, to the changing materiality of domestic spaces and the resulting shifts in sonic expectations of privacy. And you have discussed in your work that sound can function as evidence. How do you approach sound as evidence? SvF: Well, one of the other challenges to doing this work is that there is no proper...

DJ Prof: Mixing instructional modes to improve student learning

Active learning encompasses a broad variety of activities designed to engage students with material while instructors are present to answer questions. In contrast, traditional lecture instruction is passive, and students' initial interaction with material is relegated to homework, which is often completed alone. Freeman et al.'s meta-analysis of 225 studies comparing lecture and active learning concluded that active learning is the "preferred empirically validated teaching practice" and showed that active learning courses have significantly lower failure rates than lecture courses [PNAS, 2014]. Incorporating proven active learning techniques into acoustics courses will improve student learning. In Acoustics Today [2016], John Buck, Jill Nelson, and I compared the professor in an active learning course to a DJ mixing different modes of instruction. DJ Prof designs a student-centered environment combining collaborative in-class exercises, short lecture segments, online video examples, and reading assignments. If you're an active learning skeptic, this talk will highlight empirical evidence of its benefits. If you're interested in getting started with active learning, this talk will suggest easy exercises to try. If you're an experienced DJ Prof, this talk will provide examples to amp up your pedagogical playlist.

Numerical simulation and use of the PICUP framework for use in an undergraduate acoustics course

The use of numerical simulations in an undergraduate course introductory acoustics course can be a way to provide students with a method of exploring concepts that are difficult or costly to replicate in a classroom. For a course taught that serves a diverse group of students studying a large variety of majors, the importance of having multiple ways to present and revisit concepts should not be underestimated. Several simulations have been developed using Glowscript for use in a general education acoustics course. Additionally, the PICUP framework for development of exercise sets has been used to structure classroom activities in a way that encourages scaffolding of concepts from the most basic ideas to more complex applications. Examples of the Glowscript simulations and the development of PICUP exercises will be demonstrated.

An interactive simulation of the filtered-x least-mean-squares algorithm for active noise control

As part of a graduate acoustics course at Brigham Young University, students learn about principles of active noise control (ANC). One of the concepts covered is how a basic ANC algorithm functions. This presentation describes an interactive simulation of the filtered-x least-mean-squares (FXLMS) algorithm implemented in MATLAB. Available user-selected inputs include sampling frequency, type of signal to be controlled, number of filter coefficients, convergence coefficient, and system model parameters. As outputs, the students are able to observe the different signals, the attenuation, and the filter coefficients. Altering inputs and observing the simulation results motivates classroom discussion and facilitates students' gaining a working understanding of an ANC algorithm.

Case studies in teaching and research mentorship for undergraduates in structural acoustics and vibration

A hybrid educational model that mixes classroom learning and individual mentoring is presented for junior and senior undergraduates interested in structural acoustics and vibration. In this activity, talented undergraduates take Duke’s first graduate level acoustics course and simultaneously take multiple semesters of independent study for academic credit. The independent studies are co-supervised by faculty members and graduate students. The student research projects are individualized and typically separate from ongoing graduate student research. This structure allows the undergraduate students to feel strong ownership, while giving graduate students teaching and mentoring experience, and providing faculty with a vehicle to explore new ideas. Projects typically have both analytical and experimental components that allow the students to develop their proficiency with visualization and computational tools while developing their physical insight. Several case studies are presented that show impressive resu...

Educational practice of linear array techniques at the Acoustics department of the Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica campus Zacatenco, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico

Sound Source Location is a topic that has been studied over the past decades for a wide range of applications whether in air or underwater, resulting in the development of different sophisticated methods and systems. Nevertheless, this topic in not usually included in the curricula of acoustic courses for the requirement of expensive and specialized instrumentation. The purpose of this research is to develop a practical approach looking to involve the students by using common hardware for which they are already familiar with: hardware from the videogames industry. In the Acoustics department of the Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica (ESIME Zacatenco), IPN Mexico, a low-cost Sound Source Location system has been implemented for this purpose. The system is built around a PS3 Eye digital camera that includes a linear array of four microphones, and Raspberry Pi microcomputer. The Beamforming algorithms are programmed in Python to provide flexibility and ease of experimentation. It was originally designed for research applications, and now it is a prototype for laboratory practice. The system provides the undergraduate students with the basics of linear arrays and associated processing techniques engaging the students by using familiar hardware from the games industry and real life applications.