A Semiotic Analysis of Children's Pictures: “A School Polluted by Noise (original) (raw)
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"A School Polluted by Noise": A Semiotic Analysis of Children's Pictures
International Journal of Educational Research Review, 2022
In this study, pictures drawn by primary school students about noise were analyzed semiotically. The study was carried out with 20 primary school student volunteers. Research data are the pictures drawn by the children and semi-structured interview records. From the analysis of the students' drawings, three main themes, namely "visual indicator", "sign", and "symbol" are identified in this paper. The reasons for the noise in the school are depicted quite well in the student pictures; noise is reflected as a phenomenon that is disturbing, destructive, threatening physiological-psychological health, and negatively affecting social life and learning in school. However, paintings also showed that the children perceived sound and noise as the same concept. Students identified calmness in the classroom with the teacher. Findings suggested that activities should be included to improve the sound and noise awareness of the students at the school, initiate awareness in a school of silence as a shared social value, and physically improve school acoustic quality.
Semiotic Approach to the Analysis of Children’s Drawings
Semiotics, which is used for the analysis of a number of communication languages, helps describe the specific operational rules by determining the sub-systems included in the field it examines. Considering that art is a communication language, this approach could be used in analyzing children’s products in art education. The present study aiming at examining primary school students’ drawings with a semiotic approach was designed via the art-based research method, and the drawings were analyzed through the semiotic approach. The study was conducted in the primary school 3rd grade course of Visual Arts at two primary schools, one of which had students with lower socio-economic status, and the other had students with higher socio-economic status in the central town of Eskişehir in the spring term of 2010-2011 academic year. The study was carried out with a total of 26 students, and the participants were asked to draw a picture regarding a concept. The research data were collected via the students’ drawings and via the clinical interviews held with the students regarding their drawings. At the end of the study, it was found out that the semiotic analysis conducted regarding the students’ drawings was not only a tool that helped make psychological descriptions but also an approach that allowed following their mental development processes; that mostly the students attending the school from the lower socio-economic status used both the direct meanings of objects and their meanings based on reason-result relationships; and the symbolic meanings of objects were mostly favored by students attending the school from the higher socio-economic status. In this respect, the semiotic approach could be considered as an effective way to diversify the diagnostic techniques used both by educators and by parents to give meaning to students’ inner-worlds and their viewpoints about the environment and to monitor their mental processes while analyzing students’ drawings.
An Evaluation of Primary School Students' Views about Noise Levels in School
Effective education and teaching requires keeping classroom noise levels within specific limits. The purpose of this study is to evaluate students' views about the noise level in school, its effects, and control of it at two primary schools (one public school and one private school) located in a district of Bursa-within the scope of the TÜBİTAK 1001 project numbered 114K738. The research sample consists of 432 third and fourth graders, 223 of whom are from the public school and 209 of whom are from the private school. To collect data, a 20-question survey was administered to the students, and noise measurements were carried out in the schools. According to the findings obtained from the analysis of the answers from the student questionnaire, the students think that the noise level is high especially during break times. In parallel with the student views, the average noise level at break time during recess was found to be 74.56 dBA at the private primary school and 82.18 dBA at the public primary school. These values are much higher than the limits prescribed in the Regulation on Assessment and Management of Environmental Noise in Turkey (RAMEN) European Union Harmonization Laws. The research findings show that this important problem must be dealt with urgently, and substantive efforts and activities must be launched to reduce high noise levels in schools.
Teachers’ Noise Sensitivity and Efforts to Prevent Noise Pollution in School
Eurasian Journal of Educational Research
The noise phenomenon at school is one of the factors that may negatively affect school climate. Purpose In this study, the noise sensitivity and coping efforts of classroom teachers who intensely experienced noise phenomenon in their school were determined using basic qualitative research. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers selected for the study group. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings showed that loud noise at school might lead to hypersensitivity in teachers, migraine and prolonged severe headache, difficulty in communicating, tinnitus, difficulty in focusing on lessons, adverse effects on communication and interaction within the family, excessive tiredness and getting distracted, and a reduced tolerance limit, as well as feeling tired and angry. The findings suggest that teachers are in search of a quiet environmentto get away from the noise in the school. They reluctantly try to get used to the noise, and they think of retiring early from the profession. It was understood that teachers acted in various ways to cope with the noise, such as verbally warning noisy students, plugging their ears, closing the door/windows, and going out to the schoolyard to get away from the noise inside the building. Implications the teachers suggested improving the acoustics of the school, using visual stimuli with lights instead of bell sounds, raising the awareness of parents about noise and arranging the schoolyard in such a way that students can release their energies without causing noise.
Noise in Schools: A Holistic Approach to the Issue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2010
Much of the research evidence relating to the physical learning environment of schools is inconclusive, contradictory or incomplete. Nevertheless, within this confusing area, research from a number of disciplines, using a range of methodologies, points to the negative impact of noise on students' learning. In this paper, drawing on our systematic review of learning environments we review the weight of evidence in relation to noise, considering what implications the results of these studies have for the design and use of learning spaces in schools. We make four key points. Firstly that noise over a given level does appear to have a negative impact on learning. Secondly that beneath these levels noise may or may not be problematic, depending on the social, cultural and pedagogical expectations of the students and teachers. Thirdly we argue that when noise is deemed to be a difficulty, this finding cannot simply be translated into design prescriptions. The reasons for this indeterminacy include differing understandings of the routes through which noise produces learning deficits, as well as relationships between noise and other elements of the environment, particularly the impacts of physical solutions to noise problems. Finally, we suggest that solutions to noise problems will not be produced by viewing noise in isolation, or even as part of the physical environment, but through participatory approaches to understanding and adapting the structure, organisation and use of learning spaces in schools.
Analysis of Parental Opinions on Sound and Noise Pollution in Learning Environments
Journal of Family, Counseling and Education, 2021
The aim of this study is to examine parents' views on noise at home and at school. Seventy-seven parents who know their children's school, such as class representatives and class mothers, and who are closely interested in the education of their children, participated in the study. Questionnaire and observations of the researcher were used as data collection tools. The "Sound and Noise Questionnaire in Learning Environments" is the basic data collection tool. The data were analyzed descriptively. The results show that children are exposed to various noises such as loud talking, kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners and TV sound while studying at home. It has been revealed that some families do not try to reduce the noise in the house while their children are studying. It is understood that nearly half of the parents have insufficient awareness of the psychological and physiological discomfort caused by noise. The rate of parents who do not make a rule about keeping the environment quiet, while children are studying, is 14.7%. Almost 40% of the parents find the noisy behaviors of children during school break appropriate. On the other hand, about 60% of the parents are of the opinion that the noise in the school is distracting, and the noise they are exposed to is disturbing. Parents do not have a consensus on preventing noise at school. There is a need to increase the awareness of parents about the negative effects of noise. Most of the parents stated that they would support the acoustic improvements to be made at the school. It has been observed that parents have great excitement, interest, and curiosity about noise in learning environments by asking questions to the researcher regarding the survey questions. Just filling out a questionnaire has drawn parents' attention to noise in their learning environment. In order to create quieter learning environments at home and at school, and to sprout a culture of tranquility in social life, parents should be included in projects to reduce noise.
Hacettepe University Journal of Education
The aim of this study was to evaluate school administrators' views on the level of noise in schools, noise sources and the effects of noise pollution. In the study, which was designed with quantitative research method, a simple survey model was used. The population consists of 1118 school administrators working in public primary, secondary and high schools in Sakarya province in the 2020-2021 academic year. 394 participants were reached using snowball sampling method. As the data collection tool, a 16-item questionnaire created by the researcher was used. The data were analyzed using statistical package software. Frequency and percentage values, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and relative change coefficient were used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the research, administrators described the noise level in their schools as medium level. It was concluded that administrators are often disturbed by the sounds caused by the unpleasant behavior of students within the school, as well as the sounds caused by places such as construction, factories, workplaces, entertainment, and bazaars located in the surrounding area. It was determined that the administrators were aware of the effect of noise disrupting the school climate and faced the physical, physiological, and psychological negative effects of noise pollution on an individual basis.
Teachers Noise Sensitivity and Efforts to Prevent Noise Pollution in School[#932333]
Journal of Qualitative Research in Education, 2021
The noise phenomenon at school is one of the factors that may negatively affect school climate. Purpose In this study, the noise sensitivity and coping efforts of classroom teachers who intensely experienced noise phenomenon in their school were determined using basic qualitative research. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers selected for the study group. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings showed that loud noise at school might lead to hypersensitivity in teachers, migraine and prolonged severe headache, difficulty in communicating, tinnitus, difficulty in focusing on lessons, adverse effects on communication and interaction within the family, excessive tiredness and getting distracted, and a reduced tolerance limit, as well as feeling tired and angry. The findings suggest that teachers are in search of a quiet environmentto get away from the noise in the school. They reluctantly try to get used to the noise, and they thi...
Noise annoyance responses of middle school pupils and teachers
Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2004
The present survey study had three aims: (1) to compare pupils' and teachers' annoyance responses to classroom noise, (2) to compare females and males responses and to test annoyance models that fitted both pupils and teachers. The study included 207 pupils, aged 13-14 years, and 166 teachers, aged 21-65 years. Both pupils and teachers-rated chatter as the most disturbing noise source in the classroom. In line with predictions, the teachers experienced themselves as more sensitive to noise, had poorer hearing status, and reported more intense stress symptoms than the pupils. Contrary to expectations, the teachers were more annoyed and they perceived the noise to be more unpredictable than the pupils did. The control items showed a mixed pattern. There were no overall differences between females and males annoyance responses, but females reported having more stress symptoms than males. A conceptual model was tested with structural equation models, where noise sensitivity mediated the relationship between hearing status and annoyance, which in turn affected stress symptoms. Control and predictability were tested as moderators of the relations between stress symptoms and annoyance. The data fit the conceptual model reasonable well when both samples were included in the same test. r 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.