Effects of classroom-acoustic change on the attention level of university students

Diversas investigaciones han señalado la necesidad de modificar los espacios de aprendizaje para favorecer las condiciones de salud-trabajo-vida de los docentes y para mejorar las condiciones de aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Dichas modificaciones implican cambios arquitecturales, ya sea a través de amplificadores de sonido o deflectores, que permiten variar los niveles de reverberación del sonido y que por tanto modifican las necesidades de modular la voz y el desgaste asociado en el docente. El objetivo de la investigación realizada fue indagar el efecto del nivel de ruido, de la reverberación y de barreras acústicas, en el nivel atencional de 141 estudiantes de una universidad privada de la ciudad de Bogotá (Colombia). Se utilizaron dos estrategias de medición de la atención. La primera de ellas contó con la medición del nivel atencional a través de un cuestionario con palabras pertenecientes a la clase y no pertenecientes a la misma, pero que tuvieran relación con la asignatura. La segunda estrategia midió el Índice de Atención (IA), el cual estuvo conformado por el promedio de las desviaciones de la mirada a un punto, calculado sobre una cuadrícula. Los resultados señalan diferencias significativas entre los grupos intervenidos y no intervenidos. Esta diferencia es significativa tanto para la estrategia de medición tradicional de la atención, a través del cuestionario con la lista de palabras, como para la estrategia alternativa de medición del Índice de Atención, a través de la cuadrícula. Este estudio señala que cambios específicos dirigidos a disminuir los valores de reverberación en los salones de clase, afectan positivamente los niveles de atención y el desempeño de estudiantes. Lo que indica la necesidad de mejorar las condiciones acústicas de los sitios de aprendizaje para así lograr tanto mejores comprensiones de los contenidos por parte de los estudiantes como menor desgaste en la voz de los docentes.

Noise in learning environments has proven to be a big source of health problems not only for teachers, but also for students. Noise is considered as every type of sound that we are not interested in hearing, whereas a useful sound is the one we want to perceive. Studies that analyze the relationship between the effects of noise and attention processes are developed within the idea that sound stimulation acts intermittently as an activator and therefore it can generate an over-activation in the individual due to the distortion caused by this diffused stimulation on the attention process. Furthermore, researches also show that the presence of noise affects performance by making subjects focus their attention upon aspects of the task defined as relevant. Researchers have stated the importance of changing learning spaces in order to favor the health- work-life conditions of teachers and to improve the students’ learning conditions. These alterations include architectural changes, using sound-field amplification, or ceiling baffles and reflect ors that allow changing the reverberation levels of sound in order to modify the need teachers have to modulate their voice and avoid wearing it out. Is common that regulations on the acoustic characteristics of many places set general requisites that are minimal and insufficient to control noise and reverberation, and that are not in line with the guidelines on intermittent sounds. The objective of this research was to examine the effect of noise, reverberation, and acoustical barriers on the level of attention of 141 students from a private university in . Modular panels with acoustic properties were used for an acoustic intervention in some classrooms, intending to reduce the noise levels. Then, all the students of four courses of Mathematics and Statistics were considered. At least two courses had classes in the class rooms that had the acoustic intervention at the beginning of the semester, and the same teacher should be teaching those courses (in both altered and unaltered classrooms) in order to exclude differences associated with the teacher. Since the investigation aimed to measure the level of attention of the students that were in both classrooms. We designed two measurement strategies that correspond to the two types of researches that study the relationship between noise and attention. However, this study presents important differences regarding the strategies that are traditionally associated with embedded figures tests, tests regarding global shape processing and details, or surveillance tasks, because these situations were not controlled within a lab but real noise situations in a classroom. Two strategies of attention measurement were used. The first strategy measured the level of attention through a questionnaire with words belonging and not belonging to the class, but related to the subject. The second strategy allows calculating the Attention Index (AI), which would be measured by the average of the times students look away to a specific point, this is indicated in a grid. The results point towards significant differences between the acoustically intervened and non-intervened groups. That difference is significant both for the traditional attention measurement strategy through a questionnaire with word list and for the alternate Attention Index (AI) measurement strategy using a grid. This study shows that noise levels have an important effect on the students’ attention processes, and that specific changes, aimed at decreasing reverberation values in classrooms affect positively the levels of attention and student performance. They also indicate the need to improve the acoustic conditions of learning sites in order to allow students to achieve a better understanding of contents and to lessen the fatigue of the teachers’ voices.

Propiedades psicométricas de la escala de lenguaje para preescolares (PLS-3) colombianos / Psychometric Properties of the Pre-school Language Scale (PLS-3) with Colombian Children / Propriedades psicométricas da Escada de linguagem para pré-escolares (PLS-3) com crianças colombianas

Objetivo. El presente estudio buscó caracterizar las propiedades psicométricas del instrumento Preschool Language Scale - 3(PLS-3), en una muestra de 477 niños colombianos de cuatro a siete años de la ciudad de Bogotá D. C. Método. Para lograr este propósito, se realizaron análisis de coeficientes de discriminación, dificultad y matriz de relaciones tetracóricas. Resultados. Se encontraron apropiados niveles de confiabilidad, alta sensibilidad a la evolución de la comprensión y producción lingüística de los niños, así como un bajo índice de dificultad en algunos reactivos. Conclusión. Estos resultados se discuten a la luz de índices de discriminación en pruebas de desarrollo lingüístico típico y atípico.

Objective. This study sought to characterize the psychometric properties of the Preschool Language Scale - 3 (PLS-3) using a sample of 477 Colombian children between the ages of 4 and 7 from the city of Bogotá, D.C. Method. To achieve this, analyses of discrimination coefficients, difficulty and the tetrachoric relations matrix were carried out. Results. Appropriate levels of reliability, high sensitivity to the evolution of comprehension and linguistic production of the children as well as low indices of difficulty in some reagents were found. Conclusion. These results are discussed in the light of discrimination indices in tests of typical and atypical linguistic development.

Escopo. O presente estudo procurou caracterizar as propriedades psicométricas do instrumento Preschool Language Scale- 3 (PLS-3) em uma amostra de 477 crianças colombianas de quatro a sete anos da cidade de Bogotá. Metodologia. Para lograr este proposto, fizeram-se análises de coeficientes de discriminação, dificuldade e matriz de relaciones tetracóricas. Resultados. Foram achados apropriados níveis de confiabilidade, alta sensibilidade à evolução da compreensão e a produção linguística das crianças, assim como um baixo índice de dificuldade em alguns reativos. Conclusão. Estes resultados são discutidos à luz de índices de discriminação em provas de desenvolvimento linguístico típico e atípico.

Una revisión dellas relaciones entre los sistems dinámicos y la psicología dell desarrollo: a review of relations between dynamic systems and developmental psycholgyy

Este artículo tiene como propósito presentar una revisión de las relaciones entre los sistemas dinámicos y las teorías del desarrollo. Para ello, se mencionan ciertos antecedentes de la aparición de los sistemas complejos en psicología, que derivan en su inclusión en la psicología del desarrollo, especialmente con la sinergética y su aplicación al problema del movimiento de Bernstein. Se expone la psicología del desarrollo de Esther Thelen y Paul van Geert, donde se describen diversas propiedades de los sistemas dinámicos no lineales y varios métodos para estudiar el cambio psicológico. El texto finaliza señalando algunas consecuencias de la implementación de esta aproximación y los posibles retos para una ciencia del cambio.

This paper presents a review of relations between dynamical systems and development theories. To do this, mentioned some background of the emergence of complex systems in psychology is mentioned, which result in their inclusion in developmental psychology, especially with the synergetic and its application to the problem of the motion of Bernstein. Explain Esther Thelen and Paul van Geert developmental psychology is explained, which describes various properties of nonlinear dynamical systems and some types of methods for studying psychological change. The paper concludes by pointing out some consequences of the implementation of this approach and potential challenges for a science of change.