Comparative analysis of auditory perception based on educational background differences

Abstract

This research study is an experimental study focusing on auditory perception. The objectives of this research are (1) to evaluate acoustical characteristics of the classroom (2) to assess acoustical perceptions of students with different educational backgrounds. The subjects of this study consisted of 54 science students and 53 art students. The control variable is the Percentage of Absorbing Surface (PAS) inside the classroom. The first procedure of experiment was to simulate a lecture speech from a sound generator, with the adjustment of the sound absorbing surface between five levels of PAS: 0, 7.5, 15f, 15b, and 30. Next, the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire to evaluate their auditory perception according to three main areas: loudness, clearness, perceived reverberation. Then, the results were compared with the outcome from a sound test device. The findings revealed that overall there was no difference between two groups of students in their auditory perceptions. However, when the results according to the different levels of PAS were thoroughly investigated, it was found that the science students rated their auditory perception of loudness and clearness higher than the art students who rated theirs when they were in the room with the PAS above 15%.