Press release
28.06.2002 - Wedemark
Pupils perform better
In a recent study, the Institute for Research into Human/Environment Relations of the University of Oldenburg investigated the influence of classroom acoustics on the performance of primary school pupils. As part of this study, the researchers used the Soundfield system from electroacoustics specialists Sennheiser. “The positive findings of the study show new ways of improving the acoustic conditions in the classroom”, said Rolf Meyer, President Marketing and Sales at Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG. The results revealed statistical evidence of improvements in performance when pupils were given verbal information using the Soundfield system.
Teaching and learning suffers if there is too much classroom noise, or if the room has too much reverberation or an unfavorable geometry. Speech is misunderstood – or not understood at all. “If the disturbing noise is too loud compared to the speech signal, the speech sounds are masked by the noise”, explained Rolf Meyer. “The same occurs with speech signals which are distorted by the acoustic conditions of the room before they can be picked up by the pupils.”
Younger children in particular suffer under the influence of unfavorable acoustic conditions, since their speech development is not yet complete. The classroom acoustic tests carried out by the University of Oldenburg involved 20 second-year and 18 third-year primary school pupils aged between 7 and 11. The aim of the Oldenburg experiment was to determine whether pupils who are taught in a classroom with optimum speech acoustics perform better than pupils in conventional classrooms.
The tests consisted of a sound discrimination test, a short-term memory test and a test of the pupils’ ability to carry out complex instructions. The tasks to be performed were given to the pupils via headphones. Each instruction was given under two different acoustic conditions. In sound condition A, the pupils heard the teacher’s voice as in a normal classroom. In sound condition B, the teacher’s voice was supported by a Soundfield system installed in the classroom.
“The Soundfield system generates a uniform sound field in the classroom. As a result, the teacher’s voice can be clearly understood equally well throughout the room”, explained Christoph Janott, Business Area Manager for Audiology at Sennheiser. In the Soundfield system, the teacher wears a small microphone connected to a pocket transmitter. The teacher’s voice is transmitted wirelessly (thus ensuring complete freedom of movement in the classroom) to a receiver with an integrated amplifier. The receiver/ amplifier can be kept in a classroom cupboard, for example. The teacher’s voice is then uniformly reproduced by loudspeakers.
When the pupils were asked only to identify certain speech sounds (sound discrimination test), only the younger children without the Soundfield system made more mistakes. Third-year primary school pupils made hardly any mistakes under both sound conditions. This result is probably due to the rapid development of a child’s vocabulary in the first primary school years. However, the short-term memory task and the execution of complex instructions also made it necessary not only to identify the sounds that were heard but also to store and process the information in the short-term memory.
“Independent of the age group, all pupils showed statistical evidence of an improvement in performance when the teacher’s voice was reproduced via the Soundfield system”, said Janott. The more complex the task was, the more important it was to have optimum acoustic conditions. Therefore, when assessing the acoustic quality of a room, it is not sufficient merely to carry out a simple speech comprehensibility test or to ask the pupils or the teacher how well they understand what is being said. “The test findings show just how important optimum listening conditions are for primary school pupils”, said Rolf Meyer. “Its s light and uniform amplification of direct sound makes the Soundfield system an effective means of improving the understanding of speech.”
As one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems, the Sennheiser Group with its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, had total sales of over €227 million in 2001. The export share is 82%. Sennheiser has a total workforce of approx. 1,500 employees, of whom 800 are employed in Germany. Sennheiser is active worldwide and, in addition to other partnerships, has its own sales subsidiaries in France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Singapore, Canada, Mexico and the USA.
For further information about Sennheiser please visit us on the Internet at www.sennheiser.com or contact:
Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG
Press and PR • Edelgard Marquardt
Am Labor 1 • 30900 Wedemark • Germany
Tel.: +49-5130-600-329
Fax: +49-5130-600-295
E-mail: marquare@sennheiser.com
