Lecture halls are almost as old as the nature of education itself. Weather conditions didn’t always allow lectures under the open sky, so even ancient scholars had to move their tutoring indoors.

As our civilization progressed, we’ve built huge university structures, some of which stand as symbols of learning. Some universities, like Harvard, Sorbonne, Bologna, or Oxford, are among the most recognizable landmarks of their countries.

Still, when most people imagine university life, the image that immediately pops into their mind is the one of a lecture hall. While this may be true, being iconic is not the primary objective of a lecture hall. It’s a place of learning, so it needs to provide the tutor with a perfect setting to teach via visual and vocal means. Speaking of the latter, this trend can be greatly improved with decent acoustics.

Here’s how and why this is the case.

1. Clarity of spoken word

Some introverted students are too timid to admit they haven’t heard the professor. So, rather than ask them to repeat the last phrase or ask for verbal confirmation if that’s what they said, they’ll just power through it. How? Well, by writing down the wrong phrase and then reading it repeatedly in the learning process.

With better acoustics, this will become less likely.

This problem could be avoided by establishing a more direct rapport, but what is easier to do and more reliable in giving decent outcomes?

• Retraining millions of professors and giving (good-natured) advice to students to act against their nature and in their best interest.

Or

• Working a bit harder on outfitting the place with better acoustics. 

In full honesty, which of the two do you believe is more likely to lead to better outcomes?

Just imagine how important this is when learning languages and gaining confidence in speaking.

2. More pleasant environment

Even if the words are clear, background noise can dissuade you from attending the lecture.

Noise is a natural stressor. So, it makes you feel anxious (seemingly for no reason), which may lead to a higher aversion towards the lecture. Subconsciously, you’ll just remember that you didn’t feel all that pleasant the last time (since humans remember emotions better than events), making you feel the urge to skip a lesson.

Sure, murmuring in lessons is not the best thing to do, but it’s a common social activity in classrooms. No one expects you to be focused for two hours straight or to listen to your professor in complete silence all this time. However, if the echo in the room is too strong, you’ll know that every syllable you utter might land you in trouble or disturb others. So, unless the institution finds a way to stop the echo in the room, they might be looking at a massive drop in attendance.

In other words, an investment in improving the room’s acoustics can be a boost to both the mental health of everyone involved (teachers and students) as well as a boost to your attendance. 

3. Everything is recorded

The key thing to remember is that every lecture in 2023 gets recorded. Students record the lecture to do a transcript back home and make more accurate notes. Moreover, they will have more authentic learning materials this way.

Even universities are recording their professors speaking and uploading these videos/recordings online. This way, they can give even people who can’t attend a chance to learn. This trend started during the pandemic but is now in full swing. It puts educational content out there, promotes the educational institution, and demonstrates the capacity of your lecture halls.

4. Better accessibility

Some of your students may have impaired hearing. With better acoustics, you’ll provide them with a better learning opportunity. Sure, these students may also need other learning materials, but the truth is that even if it helps one student, it’s worth it.

There’s much more to providing better learning outcomes than meets the mind initially. The problem is that it’s hard to evaluate how much the acoustics impact this. As we’ve already said, you’ll make it easier to hear accurately, provide quality recording, and reduce anxiety in this place of learning. All of this has a positive impact on the results. The difficulty is quantifying this and comparing it to the project’s cost.

The most important thing to remember is that learning is not just an opportunity; it’s a privilege. As such, it’s humane to provide it for as many students as possible.

5. Sleek design and future-proofing lecture halls

Previously, we’ve mentioned that some lecture halls have been with us for centuries. Not much has changed in their architecture for the sake of authenticity and nurturing the great legacy of these institutions.

Does this mean that new halls should also be constructed in this manner?

This is not necessarily the best course of action.

Technology advances, so recording devices can pick up any slight deviations caused by the layout and internal structures.

Moreover, university classes and even courses are getting larger than ever. We live in a world with 8 billion people. This is ten to twenty times more people in the world than when some of these universities were constructed. However, classrooms and lecture halls are not ten to twenty times bigger.

This is why it’s so important that they’re well-constructed. Today, we have the knowledge, the data, and the materials to use every inch of space to its full potential. So, improving the acoustics in these institutions might be the only sensible step.

Wrap up

Ultimately, modern design, architecture, and soundproofing methods exist for a reason. They’re there to produce a higher quality of sound and improve the quality of life and productivity. This is why their role in education is often downplayed. The truth is that when done right, proper acoustics will feel like they were always there. In other words, people won’t be able to tell you’ve done anything. However, if they could compare what it was like before, they would see just how colossal the difference was.