It has been known for many years that poor acoustic conditions in classrooms leading to high noise levels and poor speech intelligibility cause annoyance to pupils and teachers and affect the academic performance of pupils. Much of the previous research concerning the impact of noise and poor acoustics on pupils has involved children in primary schools, with fewer studies related to pupils of secondary school age. Furthermore, the majority of previous studies in schools have examined the impact of environmental noise, particularly aircraft noise, on children. The aim of the study described here was to examine the effects of typical levels of classroom noise on secondary school pupils, and to attempt to identify the threshold level at which adverse impacts might occur.
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