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Video lectures are commonly used in online and flipped courses, but students often find it challenging to stay engaged and retain lecture content. The current study examined to what extent the power of electroencephalography (EEG) brain activity in the theta (4-7 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (13-20 Hz) bands can dynamically capture fluctuations of student engagement and retention throughout pre-recorded lectures. EEG activity was recorded from 33 college students throughout four video-based chemistry lectures. In-video probes were used to assess both student engagement and content retention at random moments during the video. Our findings reveal that there are significant fluctuations in self-reported engagement throughout pre-recorded lectures. Further, among the three frequency bands that were tested, only alpha power closely tracked fluctuations in self-reported engagement at the individual student level. In-lecture fluctuations in engagement were associated with content retention, but content retention itself was not well captured by EEG activity in any of the frequency bands that were examined. These findings suggest that the design of video lectures should consider fluctuations in student engagement and potentially incorporate self-reported and physiological indicators of engagement. Future research should further investigate how EEG and other physiological engagement indicators can be used in real time to personalize online instruction.

We explored the COVID-19 pandemic as a context for learning about the role of science in a global health crisis. In spring 2020, at the beginning of the first pandemic-related lockdown, we worked with a high school teacher to design and implement a unit on human brain and behavior science. The unit guided her 17 students in creating studies that explored personally relevant questions about the pandemic to contribute to a citizen science platform. Pre-/postsurveys, student artifacts, and student and teacher interviews showed increases in students' fascination with science--a driver of engagement and career preference--and sense of agency as citizen scientists. Students approached science as a tool for addressing their pandemic-related concerns but were hampered by the challenges of remote schooling. These findings highlight both the opportunities of learning from a global crisis, and the need to consider how that crisis is still affecting learners.

Citizen science programs offer opportunities for K-12 students to engage in authentic science inquiry. However, these programs often fall short of including learners as agents in the entire process, and thus contrast with the growing open science movement within scientific communities. Notably, study ideation and peer review, which are central to the making of science, are typically reserved for professional scientists. This study describes the implementation of an open science curriculum that engages high school students in a full cycle of scientific inquiry. We explored the focus and quality of students' study designs and peer reviews, and their perceptions of open science based on their participation in the program. Specifically, we implemented a human brain and behavior citizen science unit in 6 classrooms across 3 high schools. After learning about open science and citizen science, students (N = 104) participated in scientist-initiated research studies, and then collaboratively proposed their own studies to investigate personally interesting questions about human behavior and the brain. Students then peer reviewed proposals of students from other schools. Based on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of students' artifacts created in-unit and on a pre and posttest, we describe their interests, abilities, and self-reported experiences with study design and peer review. Our findings suggest that participation in open science in a human brain and behavior research context can engage students with critical aspects of experiment design, as well as with issues that are unique to human subjects research, such as research ethics. Meanwhile, the quality of students' study designs and reviews changed in notable, but mixed, ways: While students improved in justifying the importance of research studies, they did not improve in their abilities to align methods to their research questions. In terms of peer review, students generally reported that their peers' feedback was helpful, but our analysis showed that student reviewers struggled to articulate concrete recommendations for improvement. In light of these findings, we discuss the need for curricula that support the development of research and review abilities by building on students' interests, while also guiding students in transferring these abilities across a range of research foci.

BrainWaves is a Next Generation Science Standards-aligned neuroscience curriculum that allows high school students to develop and test original research questions related to how their brain helps them learn and form new memories. This article discusses the benefits and challenges associated with conducting authentic research in the high school biology classroom. This program was found to strengthen students' content knowledge and self-efficacy in research, particularly among female and minority students who are often underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Such positive student outcomes may be emulated in similarly designed curricula that prioritize student-centered anchoring phenomena and authentic research. The BrainWaves curriculum is available at https://brainwaves.education.uconn.edu.

Cognitive neuroscience research is typically conducted in controlled laboratory environments and therefore its contribution to our understanding of learning in real-world environments is limited. In recent years, however, portable and wearable brain devices have become more readily available for classroom-based research. Complementing existing education research methods, these emerging technologies could provide information about learning processes that might not be reflected in classroom observations or learners' self-reports. This essay critically evaluates the value added by portable brain technologies in education research and outlines a proposed research agenda, centered around questions related to student engagement, cognitive load, and self-regulation. We also address ethical concerns regarding student privacy and the potential misuse of students' brain data.

As the field of educational neuroscience continues to grow, questions have emerged regarding the ecological validity and applicability of this research to educational practice. Recent advances in mobile neuroimaging technologies have made it possible to conduct neuroscientific studies directly in naturalistic learning environments. We propose that embedding mobile neuroimaging research in a cycle (Matusz, Dikker, Huth, & Perrodin, 2019), involving lab-based, seminaturalistic, and fully naturalistic experiments, is well suited for addressing educational questions. With this review, we take a cautious approach, by discussing the valuable insights that can be gained from mobile neuroimaging technology, including electroencephalography and functional near-infrared spectroscopy, as well as the challenges posed by bringing neuroscientific methods into the classroom. Research paradigms used alongside mobile neuroimaging technology vary considerably. To illustrate this point, studies are discussed with increasingly naturalistic designs. We conclude with several ethical considerations that should be taken into account in this unique area of research.

Attention is thought to be the gateway between information and learning, yet there is much we do not understand about how students pay attention in the classroom. Leveraging ideas from cognitive neuroscience and psychology, we explore a framework for understanding attention in the classroom, organized along two key dimensions: internal/external attention and on-topic/off-topic attention. This framework helps us to build new theories for why active-learning strategies are effective teaching tools and how synchronized brain activity across students in a classroom may support learning. These ideas suggest new ways of thinking about how attention functions in the classroom and how different approaches to the same active-learning strategy may vary in how effectively they direct students' attention. We hypothesize that some teaching approaches are more effective than others because they leverage natural fluctuations in students' attention. We conclude by discussing implications for teaching and opportunities for future research.

Cognitive neuroscience research is typically conducted in controlled laboratory environments that hold very little resemblance to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classrooms. Fortunately, recent advances in portable electroencephalography technology now allow researchers to collect brain data from groups of students in real-world classrooms. Even though this line of research is still new, there is growing evidence that students' engagement, memory retention, and social dynamics are reflected in the brain-to-brain synchrony between students and teachers (i.e., the similarity in their brain responses). In this Essay, I will provide an overview of this emerging line of research, discuss how this approach can facilitate new collaborations between neuroscientists and discipline-based education researchers, and propose directions for future research.

Team members and researchers from New York University's BrainWaves program discuss how they train high school teachers on how to incorporate classroom-based neuroscience research into their curriculum.

Cognitive science research on learning and instruction is often not directly connected to discipline-based research. In an effort to narrow this gap, this essay integrates research from both fields on five learning and instruction strategies: active retrieval, distributed (spaced) learning, dual coding, concrete examples, and feedback and assessment. These strategies can significantly enhance the effectiveness of science instruction, but they typically do not find their way into the undergraduate classroom. The implementation of these strategies is illustrated through an undergraduate science course for nonmajors called Science in Our Lives. This course provides students with opportunities to use scientific information to solve real-world problems and view science as part of everyday life.

BrainWaves is a Next Generation Science Standards-aligned neuroscience curriculum that allows high school students to develop and test original research questions related to how their brain helps them learn andform new memories. This article discusses the benefits and challenges associated with conducting authentic research in the high school biology classroom. This program was found to strengthen students' content knowledge and self-efficacy in research, particularly amongfemale and minority students who are often underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Such positive student outcomes may be emulated in similarly designed curricula that prioritize student-centered anchoring phenomena and authentic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]