Teachers’ Perception of Urban Noise in The Classroom: Case Study in Mukah, Sarawak

Abstract

Environmental noise is an unwanted sound created by urbanisation and industrialisation processes, which has been linked to problems of teachers in the school such as lack of concentration, annoyance, speech interference and low performances. The impact of noise in the classroom during the teaching session can cause increased stress and fatigue to teachers. This study aims to identify the noise factor in the school and the impacts of urban noise on teachers during the teaching session through subjective evaluation. In the present study, a questionnaire survey was distributed to the teachers at three secondary schools in Mukah, Sarawak. The developed questionnaire was evaluated by the experts and pilot study was carried out prior to the actual survey. A total of 204 respondents from secondary schools named as school A, school B and school C were participated in this study. The questionnaires were sent to all teachers in three schools in the form of Google Forms and sent by using the WhatsApp application. The main factor of environmental noise that affects teachers from all schools studied came from transportation. Most of the teachers agreed that they need to raise their voice and walk around inside the classroom during the class in order to make sure students can hear their message clearly.