The impact of teaching noise detection and control strategies among historically black college and university student using hands-on pedagogy on student's motivation and curiosity

Abstract

Noise engineering is not a new field of study but statistics showed that experts in the field are on a decline. Observing that motivation and curiosity are among the hallmarks of any workforce development pipeline, the study developed an experiment-centric pedagogy to detect and measure noise from pollution using low-cost hands-on devices with the aim of motivating learners. The study design was a pre- and post-test method. The learners were enrolled in a transportation course and the noise detection and measurement strategies course module was used for the study. Motivated Strategies Learning Questionnaire was adopted for the study. Learners response to the use of technological tools incorporated in learning was predominantly positive revealing that the learners' gain extensively. More so, significant improvement was observed in the critical thinking of leaners (p < 0 .05) and overall, there was an increase in their motivation at the post-test. Significant improvement in academic performance of learners was also observed at post-test (p < 0 .05). It is therefore posited that there is need for effective engagement with learners with similar low-cost hands-on to lead to better understand and motivation that can lead to development of workforce in noise engineering.