Is neuroimaging ready for the classroom? A systematic review of hyperscanning studies in learning

S H Jessica Tan; Jin Nen Wong; Wei-Peng Teo

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120367

Is neuroimaging ready for the classroom? A systematic review of hyperscanning studies in learning

Neuroimage. 2023 Nov 1:281:120367. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120367. Epub 2023 Sep 7.

Authors

S H Jessica Tan¹, Jin Nen Wong², Wei-Peng Teo³

Affiliations

¹ Science of Learning in Education Centre, Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Electronic address: jessica.tan@nie.edu.sg.
² Science of Learning in Education Centre, Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
³ Science of Learning in Education Centre, Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Physical Education and Sport Science Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

PMID: 37689175
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120367

Abstract

Whether education research can be informed by findings from neuroscience studies has been hotly debated since Bruer's (1997) famous claim that neuroscience and education are "a bridge too far". However, this claim came before recent advancements in portable electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technologies, and second-person neuroscience techniques that brought about significant headway in understanding instructor-learner interactions in the classroom. To explore whether neuroscience and education are still two very separate fields, we systematically review 15 hyperscanning studies that were conducted in real-world classrooms or that implemented a teaching-learning task to investigate instructor-learner dynamics. Findings from this investigation illustrate that inter-brain synchrony between instructor and learner is an additional and valuable dimension to understand the complex web of instructor- and learner-related variables that influence learning. Importantly, these findings demonstrate the possibility of conducting real-world classroom studies with portable neuroimaging techniques and highlight the potential of such studies in providing translatable real-world implications. Once thought of as incompatible, a successful coupling between neuroscience and education is now within sight.

Keywords: Electroencephalography (EEG); Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS); Instructor-learner; Interbrain synchrony (IBS); Social interaction.

Publication types

Review