How communication noise erodes quality and undermines learning

Abstract

Purpose Communication, which is the cornerstone of knowledge creation and transmission, is sometimes undermined by noise often described simply as errors but hardly interrogated as communication noise. Therefore, this paper aims to explain noise from the perspective of communication (content creation, decoding and transmission) with a view to drawing attention to the broad consequences for effective learning. Design/methodology/approach One aspect of communication noise (errors in textbooks) was purposively selected and an exploration of the Web through the Google and Yahoo search engines generated a purposive sample of 456 valid documents. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the documents was undertaken using content analysis method. Findings Findings indicate that communication noise is common in textbooks used in many countries, that semantic and factual errors are more frequently experienced, and that the adverse effects touch on teaching, learning and other aspects of life. Originality/value Scholarly conversation on noise relating to knowledge creation and transmission has revolved mainly around environmental noise in and around libraries and classrooms notwithstanding that communication noise may be more harmful to quality learning than environmental noise. This study, therefore, successfully draws attention to this under-researched phenomenon which is currently adversely affecting effective knowledge delivery all over the world.