Reverberation time of UM Matina classroom - : a basis for acoustical environment enhancement

Abstract

The quality of the learning environment in classrooms depends on various factors. Building acoustics would be one of these factors. The two most important issues as regards to this learning environment are excessive background noise and reverberation. They both interfere with the ability of the students to hear, listen, and understand what is spoken. It can lead to an overall reduction in the level of learning. The research focused on reverberation time or RT60. Standards presuppose that the acceptable range is 0.4 to 0.6 seconds. One second would be the maximum acceptable limit. The study was conducted at the University of Mindanao, Matina Campus. This university is known for its open admission. This open admission means that all types of students are admitted with all the various levels of preparedness. It was interesting to note that in the 2015 study of that university, the majority of its new students are considered as not ready. The acoustical environment can exacerbate the learning development of most of the students. This descriptive survey research used multi-stage sampling. The instrument used in determining the RT60 was an Android App called Reverberation Time Pro, which has been installed on the ASUS Z00LD smartphone. Only eleven percent of classrooms are compliant. The features of these compliant classrooms served as a guide for enhancement of the 89% that are not. Keywords: acoustics, reverberation time, RT60, lecture rooms, speech intelligibilityThe quality of the learning environment in classrooms depends on various factors. Building acoustics would be one of these factors. The two most important issues as regards to this learning environment are excessive background noise and reverberation. They both interfere with the ability of the students to hear, listen, and understand what is spoken. It can lead to an overall reduction in the level of learning. The research focused on reverberation time or RT60. Standards presuppose that the acceptable range is 0.4 to 0.6 seconds. One second would be the maximum acceptable limit. The study was conducted at the University of Mindanao, Matina Campus. This university is known for its open admission. This open admission means that all types of students are admitted with all the various levels of preparedness. It was interesting to note that in the 2015 study of that university, the majority of its new students are considered as not ready. The acoustical environment can exacerbate the learning development of most of the students. This descriptive survey research used multi-stage sampling. The instrument used in determining the RT60 was an Android App called Reverberation Time Pro, which has been installed on the ASUS Z00LD smartphone. Only eleven percent of classrooms are compliant. The features of these compliant classrooms served as a guide for enhancement of the 89% that are not. Keywords: acoustics, reverberation time, RT60, lecture rooms, speech intelligibility