Learning outcomes and brain-to-brain synchrony between students vary by teaching style: evidence from classroom EEG experimentation

How does the human brain support real-world learning? In this research, we used wireless EEG headsets to collect neurophysiological from groups of students and their teacher while they engaged in high school biology lessons. Prior research conducted in one school found that brain-to-brain synchrony between students (quantified as inter-brain coherence; Total Interdependence or TI, Wen et al., Neuroimage, 2012) predicted social dynamics and classroom engagement, factors found to be critical for student learning (Reyes et al., J. Educ. Psychol., 2012). Specifically, student ratings (e.g. engagement) and brain-to-brain synchrony between students were higher when students viewed lesson-related videos compared to listening to their teacher’s lectures. In this study, we recorded EEG from a similar classroom setup in a second New York City high school. Six recording sessions occurred during scheduled classes over the semester and were organized to compare teaching styles—two lesson-related videos interleaved with two lesson lectures. Students completed a multiple-choice quiz after each class to measure their retention of that lesson’s content from videos and lectures. Replicating findings from the first school in preliminary analyses of one session, a student’s brain-to-brain synchrony with the other students as a group was higher for the video segments compared to the lecture segments. Furthermore, student retention was higher for video content then lecture content across all six sessions, but only for content presented in the second half of class. Together, our findings provide further evidence regarding how to investigate the neural basis of real-world learning and academic outcome in group settings.