Description

Open plan classrooms are becoming increasingly popular in new school design in the UK. Open plan classroom acoustics in Primary Schools were investigated as part of a PhD research project carried out at London South Bank University.

Speech Transmission Index (STI) measurements were carried out in 42 open plan classbases in British primary schools, to assess compliance against acoustic performance standards defined in Building Bulletin 93 (BB93).

The BB93 criterion for speech intelligibility within open plan classbases (STI > 0.6) is intended to achieve ‘good’ speech intelligibility, as described by the ISO-99212 standardised rating scale. This paper explores the scope of the rating scale and hence the suitability of the BB93 criterion for listeners in a primary school setting. Consideration is given to both age and listening proficiency of a typical primary school audience (students), and typical vocal effort of the talker (teacher).

The relationship between measured STI, speech-to-noise ratio and reverberation time was investigated using multiple regression analysis. From this, alternative STI design criteria are proposed, based on acoustic requirements for different age groups to achieve equivalent subjective speech intelligibility scores (as established by others). STI requirements for learners with English as an additional language are also considered.

For more information please contact Nicola Stedman: stedmann@rpsgroup.com
For more details of Regional Branch activities, please refer to the IOA website: www.ioa.org.uk
Topics and speakers for the evening meetings are generally identified and organised by the London Branch Committee, but we always welcome new ideas and suggestions for future presentations. If you have any ideas or suggestions, or may even like to give a presentation yourself, please do not hesitate to contact Nicola Stedman: stedmann@rpsgroup.com
The evening meetings are free; there is no need to book a place (except for the annual events, such as the half-day visit and dinner); and we welcome both IOA members and non-IOA members.
The next London Branch evening meeting will take place on Tuesday 21st October 2009; a meeting notice will be distributed shortly to confirm the date, time, location and topic for discussion.

Travel

The closest underground station is Chancery Lane Tube Station.

Contact Information

Name:

Nicola Stedman

Email:

stedman@rpsgroup.com

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