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Effects of shared noise control activities in two primary schools
Abstract
Worldwide research has demonstrated the influence of bad acoustic conditions inside primary schools on pupils' learning and achievements and on teachers' stress. It has been also demonstrated that noise levels during school activities can be over 75 dB(A). Although the lack of sound insulation and sound absorbing units is of main concern for the phenomena, social and environmental context of the school can have also a dominant effect. In this paper are presented the results of a pilot study named "Sshh…school" conducted in two schools located in different places (a strongly urbanized area and a small village). The pilot study had the aim to sensitize all school actors (management, teachers, parents, pupils) to the problem and to find together the possible remedies to control it. Among others the effects of an information and instruction campaign and the introduction of friendly shared and sustainable absorbing materials were investigated.
... The sound absorption coefficient of any material subject to a normal incidence wave inside the impedance tube can be determined according to the procedure outlined in ISO 10534-2 [25]. This methodology allows the calculation of the acoustic parameters by using circular samples [26,27]. ...
... In the evolutionary process of the young person, school life represents an important stage in his social experience, experimenting with different ways of interacting: The young person learns the rules of behavior and strengthens their cognitive, emotional, and social skills. The school, therefore, can become the theater of both prosocial behaviors and aggressive behaviors, occasional or repeated, which have a profound impact on the development of the individuals involved in various capacities [2]. In fact, peer abuse occurs mainly between classmates or schoolmates, or between people who, voluntarily or not, share time, environment, and experiences [3]. ...
Cyberbullying is spreading in social networks frequented by young people. Its rapid spread is due to a series of specific preconditions due to the nature of the context within which the cyberbully finds himself operating. Anonymity, the absence of space-time limits, and the lack of responsibility of the individual are the strengths on which the actions of bullies are based. Automatically identifying acts of cyberbullying and social networks can help in setting up support policies for victims. In this study a method based on sentiment analysis is proposed with the use of recurrent neural networks for the prevention of cyberbullying acts in social networks.
... Thicker panels do not present a good sound absorption value. Further studies on cork panels of different thickness should be carried out, with it is also being necessary to realize real scale cork panel absorption systems, to be used for the acoustic correction of environments in order to evaluate the feasibility of the system and assess any possible problems [16,17,18,19,20]. ...
Cork is a green and sustainable material. At the end of its useful life, it can be disposed of into the environment without causing any damage. It can be used to improve the acoustics inside environments, as a system for the reduction of reverberation time. Sound absorption systems consist of cork panels mounted at a distance onto a rigid wall. The thickness of the cork panels considered are 1.5 mm and 2.5 mm. While the distances considered from the rigid wall are 3 cm, 5 cm, 10 cm and 15 cm. The absorption coefficient of the samples was measured in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 2,000 Hz with an impedance tube (tube of Kundt). Furthermore, the problems relating to the realization of sound-absorption systems composed of cork panels are also discussed.
... The high absorption obtained in some frequency bands, depending on the back cavity depth, confirmed the possibility of using cork sheets for the acoustic correction of different type of rooms, churches or classrooms. Further studies on cork sheets of different thickness should be carried out, with it is also being necessary to realize real-scale cork sheet absorption systems, to be used for the acoustic correction of environments in order to evaluate the feasibility of the system as well as assess any possible problems [15][16][17][18][19][20]. ...
Green materials can be considered as a valid alternative to traditional synthetic materials. The cork is a green material, in fact it is a sustainable material. Cork can be used to improve the acoustics inside buildings. The systems used consist of cork sheets mounted at a distance onto a rigid wall, with the thickness of the sheet being 1.5 mm. The distances from the rigid wall considered are equal to 5 cm, 10 cm and 15 cm. The absorption coefficient of the sample was measured in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 2000 Hz with an impedance tube.
... The acoustic parameters were measured carried out an omni directional sound source feed with an MLS signal. With the panels insertion the average value of the reverberation time has a significant reduction (about 1.0 second), so the speech intelligibility increases [15,16,17]. ...
Green materials are becoming a valid alternative to traditional synthetic materials. The green materials can be used in different fields of the building constructions. The green materials are sustainable, infact the at the end of its useful life they can be dispersed into the environment without damaging it. So the green material can be used in improving the acoustic comfort inside environment, as well as to mitigate noise pollution. In this paper are reported the acoustic measurements of the properties of green materials. The absorption coefficient of samples of the materials, were measured in the frequency range from 200 Hz to 2,000 Hz with an impedance tube (tube of ”Kundt”); the flow resistance was also measured. Furthermore the problems about the realization of sound-absorbing panels composed of green materials, used for the acoustic correction of classroom, were discussed.
... Students are impaired by background noise and teachers suffer from raising their voice level to compensate for the high level of background noise and increase the signal to noise ratio (SNR) [8,9] . On the other hand, if the classroom acoustics were well designed and the acoustical properties inside the classroom were improved, this will result in an improvement on learning and students' behavior, and these results are registered in numerous studies [10,11] . ...
The quality and efficiency of learning and teaching processes in academic universities depend on many important factors. Acoustic quality within the learning environment of the classroom and its surroundings is one of the most important factors that affect the quality of the learning process. Several studies and researches focused on the subject of acoustical comfort in university classrooms. In this paper we study smart classroom acoustics design issues required to achieve high quality acoustics conditions. These designing issues include inside and outside noise sources, designing for optimum reverberation time, selection of sound insulation and acoustical treatment materials, designing for speech intelligibility, and auralization inside the KAU classrooms. The aim is to suggest a developed smart classroom acoustics design model (SCADM) that can be used by architects, acoustics engineers and designers in an early stage of classroom design in order to achieve the acoustical conditions of KAU university classrooms. The goal of this research is to raise the quality and efficiency of the educational environment to reach an excellent learning environment, and hence increasing students learning outcomes.
... Due to aesthetic and historic reasons, it is difficult to install sound absorbent panels for acoustic correction in classrooms located in historical buildings. Usually the dimensions of such classrooms (volume and area) are large so the reverberation time is high (over 2 seconds) [1]. Furthermore, classrooms located in historical buildings are not regular in shape and the ceilings are not plane. ...
The acoustic correction inside classrooms located in historical buildings using absorbent panels is difficult for aesthetic reasons. Furthermore, architectural restrictions are often imposed to preserve the historical heritage. The acoustic measurements inside the classrooms show high reverberation time values, which imply an adverse environment for speech reception. In this paper the reverberation time in classrooms located in historical buildings was reduced by installing removable sound absorbent panels. The panels were made with “green material”. The absorbent material was obtained by crushing giant reeds of sweet water, a plant which grows quickly in wetlands. The crushed material was then put in jute sachets, installed in the wooden frames and covered with different colours jute cloth for aesthetics. Acoustic measurements were made in the classrooms with smooth plaster walls, without students. A virtual model of the classroom was drawn with 3D CAD. The surface area covered with green material absorbent panels was evaluated by the software Odeon. After the installation of the absorbent panels, comparisons between the virtual classroom acoustic properties and the real classroom acoustic properties were made to validate the effect of the green absorption panels.
... Often the classrooms are located in historical buildings, where for aesthetic and historical reasons it is difficult to install sound-absorbing panels for acoustic corrections; the classrooms are not regular in shape and the ceilings are not level [1], [2]. To improve the acoustic characteristics of the classrooms, sound-absorbing materials must be installed in an appropriate manner, but with non fixed structures, as they are historical buildings. ...
... Il progetto " Sshh….scuola " è stato applicato per la prima volta in due scuole elementari nel sud Italia [10]. La prima scuola è ubicata in piccolo paese in collina nell'entroterra (S. ...
Ce), luigi.maffei@unina2.it 1. Premesse e considerazioni generali Gli ambienti scolastici sono sistemi complessi. Essi devono assolvere diverse fun-zioni: insegnamento con trasmissione vocale, studio individuale, attività didattiche spor-tive e musicali, attività ricreative. Tutte funzioni che necessitano diversi livelli di con-centrazione e coinvolgimento di studenti e docenti. Le condizioni acustiche negli ambienti scolastici sono anche esse complesse. Aule, palestre, piscine, possono essere esposte a sorgenti sonore esterne all'edificio (traffico stradale, ferroviario, aereo, impianti) ma anche a sorgenti sonore interne quali attività che si svolgono nelle aule limitrofe o nei corridori, impianti di condizionamento, appa-recchiature per le attività didattiche (stampanti, computers). E' nondimeno di estrema importanza il rumore generato dagli stessi allievi durante le attività scolastiche quotidiane. In letteratura sono stati pubblicati diversi studi su questo aspetto [1,2]. I valori del livello della pressione sonora all'interno delle aule scolastiche dipendono dal rumore di fondo, dalla configurazione dell'aula, dalla presenza o meno di materiale fonoassorbente, dal grado di occupazione, dall'età degli allievi, dal tipo di at-tività ma anche, e non meno importanti, da aspetti sociali e pedagogici. Numerose e approfondite ricerche a livello internazionale confermano come la scar-sa qualità dell'acustica delle aule per la didattica possa generare effetti negativi sul pro-cesso di apprendimento degli alunni [3] con conseguente calo delle prestazioni, ma an-che eccessivi sforzi vocali degli insegnanti con conseguenti patologie nonchè innesco di stress per insegnanti e allievi [4]. Non trascurabile è anche l'aspetto del rischio da rumore in ambienti particolari come palestre e aule di conservatori per gli insegnati di educazione fisica [5] e di musica rispettivamente [6]. Esistono peraltro numerosi studi incentrati sulle migliori tecniche da applicare per il controllo delle condizioni acustiche negli edifici scolastici. Inserimento di materiale fo-noassorbente nelle aule, pareti esterne e divisori interni con proprietà fono isolanti, ma anche studio di opportuni lay-out, inserimento di arredi con funzioni anche fonoassor-benti, sono soluzioni non complesse e di sicuro effetto. Accanto ad interventi tecnici, possono essere previsti anche interventi organizzativi e/o gestionali: formazione agli
... Le canne di acqua dolce sono state tagliate, essiccate e poi opportunamente triturate in una macina (Figura 3). Il materiale sciolto è stato inserito in sacchi di juta e successivamente collocato in telai di legno e ricoperti con una tela di juta colorata, il te- lo di juta è a maglie larghe pertanto è acusticamente trasparente [4], la Figura 4 mostra il materiale triturato, a forma parallelipedica con le seguenti dimensioni medie: lun- ghezza 40 mm, larghezza 10 mm e spessore 3,0 mm. ...
1. Introduzione Negli ultimi anni si sono diffuse applicazioni nel campo del risparmio energetico re-alizzate con materiali sostenibili (materiali "green"), ossia materiali realizzati con fibre vegetali, che al termine della loro vita utile possono essere smaltiti nell'ambiente con pochi costi e senza problemi di inquinamento [1], [2], [3]. In questo lavoro sono riporta-ti i valori delle proprietà acustiche di pannelli fonoassorbenti realizzati con un materiale "green". Nello specifico sono stati realizzati pannelli fonoassorbenti con un materiale ottenuto dalla triturazione delle canne di acqua dolce (Arundo donax), queste piante so-no ampiamente diffuse nelle zone acquitrinose, sopratutto del sud d'Italia. Le canne di acqua dolce sono state tagliate nei campi ai bordi dei corsi di acqua, essiccate e oppor-tunamente triturate. Il materiale triturato è stato imbustato in sacchi di juta, in modo da ottenere cuscini di materiale fonoassorbente, e successivamente sono stati realizzati pannelli con telai in legno, da impiegare in ambienti scolastici per la correzione acusti-ca. 2. Materiale in prova Il materiale utilizzato proviene dalle canne di acqua dolce (Arundo donax), che cre-scono in zone acquitrinose, e raggiungono i 6 m di altezza e un diametro di 2-3 cm in breve tempo. Le foglie sono di 30-60 cm di lunghezza e di 2-6 cm di larghezza (Figura1 e Figura 2). Le canne di acqua dolce sono state tagliate, essiccate e poi opportunamente triturate in una macina (Figura 3). Il materiale sciolto è stato inserito in sacchi di juta e successivamente collocato in telai di legno e ricoperti con una tela di juta colorata, il te-lo di juta è a maglie larghe pertanto è acusticamente trasparente [4], la Figura 4 mostra il materiale triturato, a forma parallelipedica con le seguenti dimensioni medie: lun-ghezza 40 mm, larghezza 10 mm e spessore 3,0 mm.
... The decision of holding the crushed materials in jutes bags is motivated by the fact that the jute has a large mesh and a low air resistivity. It can be classified as an acoustically transparent material [6]. TheFigure 2 shows the crushing operation of the giant reeds. ...
The "green materials " are spreading in the architectural acoustics applications. These materials are completely biodegradable and they have the advantage that they are easily disposed at the end of useful life. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the application of the "green materials" into classrooms for the acoustical correction. Among available "green materials " the giant reeds of sweet water (Arundo donax) was chosen for its wide diffusion in the area of south of Italy. The "green material" was dried and crushed in an appropriate way and it was subsequently placed in jute sacks to build up uniform sound absorbing panels. The "green material" was characterized by measuring its acoustic properties (absorption coefficient, porosity and resistivity) and the same were compared with those of acoustical commercial materials. The "green" panels were placed in an university classrooms to evaluate the efficiency of the acoustic correction and the acceptability by the students.
A number of objective ana subjective acoustical parameters, referring to the reverberance, and spatial distribution of sound and speech intelligibility, were measured before and after the acoustical adaptation of a classroom. Three configurations of arrangements differing in used materials' sound absorbing coefficient were analyzed. The results indicate the expected improvement of the acoustical environment according to design assumptions.
The green materials are products obtained by the transformation of materials of vegetable origin; and they have the advantage that at the end of their useful life, they are scattered in the environment without causing damage. In this work the green material considered and used from acoustic application, is made from giant reeds of sweet water (arundo donax). The giant reeds have been cut, dried and shredded, and a loosened granular material has been obtained, which is very porous, and it presents good characteristics, both in thermal isolation and in acoustic absorption. This paper shows giant reeds application in the room acoustic. Panels with giant reeds shredded were made and they were used in a classroom for the reduction of reverberation time.
Many surveys and researches have underlined that the acoustic characteristics of classrooms are strictly connected to performances of students and to the stress of the teachers during lessons. In standard classrooms sound quality can be easily reached without sound amplification but introducing appropriate sound absorbingscattering materials at the ceiling andor at the vertical walls. Nevertheless in historical buildings with vaults or trusses, high walls and many architectural restrictions imposed by district superintendent, it could be very difficult to achieve good acoustics standards with widespread solutions. In this paper the acoustic performances of different classrooms in an historical Monastery actually center of the Faculty of Architecture of the Second University of Naples are analysed. After these analysis, compatible architectural and acoustic solutions to improve the sound quality were developed and tested in laboratory measurements and then applied in some classrooms to verify the benefits.
This investigation into the effects on teachers of the natural work "noise" occurring in lessons is based on an analysis of the altered pedagogical approach in everyday school life (cf. Oberdorster/Tiesler: "Modern Teaching" needs modern conditions). Is it correct to speak in general of "noise stress" or is this stress more an emotional reaction to the kind of work in which teachers are engaged? Based on recordings taken in 175 lessons this article describes how room acoustic conditions influence the teachers' measurable physiological load in relation to classroom events, teaching method and shares of speech. The data are resolved into 5-minute time slices for analysis. We analysed different conditions in one primary school (School 1) on the basis of four classrooms with a RT of > 0.5 s and four classrooms with a RT of < 0.5 s. At a second primary school (School 2) we analysed the effects of the room acoustic refurbishment (reverberation time reduced from 0.7 s to 0.4 s). Database are continuously recorded SPL, teaching activity and teacher's heart rate. Hence it is possible for the first time to consider classroom events and their effects on the teachers as a process. These physiological effects have to be confirmed by the reaction of students.
Internal and external noise surveys have been carried out around schools in London, UK, to provide information on typical levels and sources to which children are exposed while at school. Noise levels were measured outside 142 schools, in areas away from flight paths into major airports. Here 86% of the schools surveyed were exposed to noise from road traffic, the average external noise level outside a school being 57 dB L(Aeq). Detailed internal noise surveys have been carried out in 140 classrooms in 16 schools, together with classroom observations. It was found that noise levels inside classrooms depend upon the activities in which the children are engaged, with a difference of 20 dB L(Aeq) between the "quietest" and "noisiest" activities. The average background noise level in classrooms exceeds the level recommended in current standards. The number of children in the classroom was found to affect noise levels. External noise influenced internal noise levels only when children were engaged in the quietest classroom activities. The effects of the age of the school buildings and types of window upon internal noise were examined but results were inconclusive.
Noise-a daily stressor
- G Tiesler
Tiesler G. Noise-a daily stressor;