EPSRC Reference: |
GR/K83632/01 |
Title: |
SPEECH INTELLIGIBILITY IN CLASSROOMS |
Principal Investigator: |
MacKenzie, Mr D |
Other Investigators: |
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Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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Project Partners: |
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Department: |
Building Engineering & Surveying |
Organisation: |
Heriot-Watt University |
Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
Starts: |
08 January 1996 |
Ends: |
07 January 1998 |
Value (£): |
81,261
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EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
Building Ops & Management |
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EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
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Related Grants: |
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Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
In a classroom environment, communication is mainly done through speaking by the teacher and listening by the pupils. Classrooms must therefore be designed to achieve the highest level of speech intelligibility. Research has shown that many classrooms, irrespective of the country, tend to have too high a background noise level or too long a reverberation time, thus making the spoken word difficult to understand. Teachers often have to raise their voice, thus making the pupils feel uneasy which is reflected in their poor achievement. A study will be carried out in 60 classrooms to measure the speech intelligibility, investigating the background noise levels, reverberation times, signal/noise rations, RASTI values etc. From the results, a design guide will be produced suggesting methods of improving the acoustics of existing classrooms, thus making the environment within classrooms much more conducive to learning.
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Key Findings |
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
Description |
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Summary |
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Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Project URL: |
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Further Information: |
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Organisation Website: |
http://www.hw.ac.uk |