Last year one of my students did a project on ways to absorb sound in a classroom. This year he is interested in exploring the use of white noise to help students focus from distractions when learning independently. He would like some guidance on research and even if this is a topic worth experimenting with? Any feedback is appreciated!
Thank you!
Noise pollution in classroom
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MsAddington
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bfinio
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Re: Noise pollution in classroom
Hi MsAddington,
Sorry you didn't get a reply on this earlier. That certainly sounds like a worthwhile topic to investigate and it's great that a student would maintain interest in the same topic year after year. A couple suggestions:
Look at our Human Behavior science project category https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... n-behavior. I don't think we have one that matches exactly what he wants to do, but they will provide examples of how to work with human subjects and how to measure whether people are "distracted" or able to complete a task. For example here's one about whether cell phones affect reaction time:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... me#summary
and here's one (this is actually in our Video Games category) about whether playing a video game can distract people from pain:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... management
So he could probably set up a similar experiment to measure whether people can complete a task/avoid being distracted depending on the presence of white noise.
If the student has a smartphone or tablet available for use, it may also be worth looking into Google's Science Journal app. This is a free app for your phone that allows you to make scientific measurements, like the loudness or pitch of sound (and other things that aren't sound-related). We have more information about that here:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-journal-app
Hope that helps! Please write back with any questions.
-Ben
Sorry you didn't get a reply on this earlier. That certainly sounds like a worthwhile topic to investigate and it's great that a student would maintain interest in the same topic year after year. A couple suggestions:
Look at our Human Behavior science project category https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... n-behavior. I don't think we have one that matches exactly what he wants to do, but they will provide examples of how to work with human subjects and how to measure whether people are "distracted" or able to complete a task. For example here's one about whether cell phones affect reaction time:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... me#summary
and here's one (this is actually in our Video Games category) about whether playing a video game can distract people from pain:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... management
So he could probably set up a similar experiment to measure whether people can complete a task/avoid being distracted depending on the presence of white noise.
If the student has a smartphone or tablet available for use, it may also be worth looking into Google's Science Journal app. This is a free app for your phone that allows you to make scientific measurements, like the loudness or pitch of sound (and other things that aren't sound-related). We have more information about that here:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-journal-app
Hope that helps! Please write back with any questions.
-Ben
Re: Noise pollution in classroom
It is great information with helpful