The neural correlates of pedagogy: An fNIRS hyperscanning study of constructivist and instructivist approaches in teacher-child dyads

IF 5.3 2区医学 Q1 NEUROIMAGING

NeuroImage Pub Date : 2026-02-15 Epub Date: 2026-01-13 DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121719

Hui Li , John Chi-Kin Lee , Dandan Wu , Keya Ding

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Abstract

A foundational debate in education contrasts constructivist and instructivist pedagogies, yet their neurocognitive underpinnings remain largely unknown. This study provides a pioneering direct neural comparison of these pedagogical paradigms. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning, we simultaneously recorded prefrontal cortex activity from 54 teacher-child dyads (children aged 4–7 years) during a collaborative LEGO-building task in a Chinese context. Dyads were randomly assigned to either a constructivist (facilitator-led) or an instructivist (expert-led) approach. We analyzed intra-brain (within-person) and inter-brain (between-person) synchrony using wavelet transform coherence.

Results revealed distinct neural signatures for each approach. Both teachers and children exhibited unique patterns of intra-brain connectivity reflecting the different cognitive demands of each role. Critically, dyads in the constructivist approach displayed significantly higher inter-brain synchrony in right prefrontal regions (implicated in social cognition and mentalizing) compared to dyads in the instructivist condition. These findings suggest that constructivism fosters a neurally coupled, collaborative state between teacher and child, potentially reflecting a shared cognitive space. In contrast, instructivist teaching appears to impose a higher, more independent cognitive load on the teacher with less dyadic neural alignment. This work provides the first neurobiological evidence differentiating these cornerstone teaching frameworks and offers a new avenue for a neurally-informed science of learning.

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教育学的神经关联：建构主义和教学主义在教师-儿童组合中的超扫描研究。

在教育的基础辩论对比建构主义和教学主义教学法，但他们的神经认知基础仍然很大程度上未知。这项研究为这些教学范式提供了一种开创性的直接神经比较。使用功能性近红外光谱（fNIRS）超扫描，我们同时记录了54对教师-儿童（4-7岁的儿童）在中国背景下合作构建乐高积木任务中的前额叶皮层活动。二人组被随机分配到建构主义组（引导者引导）和指导主义组（专家引导）。我们利用小波变换相干性分析了脑内（人内）和脑间（人之间）的同步。结果显示每种方法的神经特征不同。教师和儿童都表现出独特的脑内连接模式，反映了每个角色的不同认知需求。重要的是，与教学主义组相比，建构主义组的双组在右前额叶区域（涉及社会认知和心理化）表现出显著更高的脑间同步。这些发现表明，建构主义在教师和儿童之间培养了一种神经耦合的合作状态，潜在地反映了一个共享的认知空间。相比之下，指导性教学似乎对教师施加了更高、更独立的认知负荷，而双进神经排列较少。这项工作提供了区分这些基础教学框架的第一个神经生物学证据，并为神经信息学习科学提供了新的途径。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

NeuroImage 医学-核医学

CiteScore

11.30

自引率

10.50%

发文量

809

审稿时长

63 days

期刊介绍： NeuroImage, a Journal of Brain Function provides a vehicle for communicating important advances in acquiring, analyzing, and modelling neuroimaging data and in applying these techniques to the study of structure-function and brain-behavior relationships. Though the emphasis is on the macroscopic level of human brain organization, meso-and microscopic neuroimaging across all species will be considered if informative for understanding the aforementioned relationships.