Classroom Acoustics

Classroom acoustics is a term used when considering the ease or otherwise with which students and teachers can communicate verbally with each other in the classroom. Verbal communication makes use of speech, and for speech to be understood, the acoustic pressure wave from the speaker must not be altered to any great degree as it travels to the ears of the listener(s). Two things can alter the acoustic pressure wave in transmission in a classroom: (1) the classroom acoustics and (2) the addition of unwanted sounds from elsewhere.

Any space that is partially or completely enclosed behaves acoustically in a manner that depends on the linear dimensions, the overall volume, and the materials that cover the surfaces of the space. Sound waves travel spherically outward from ...