Description
The most frequently used functional neuroimaging methods in educational research are electro-encephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (van Atteveldt et al., 2018), which have provided many insights into brain function during learning and teaching. While each method brings different advantages, studies using these imaging techniques are low in ecological validity, meaning that their findings cannot be generalized to real-life settings (Lewkowicz, 2001). Because of the methods’ constraints, the stimuli and tasks that are used are highly controlled and relatively simple, and the environment in which the studies take place is artificial and isolated (van Atteveldt et al., 2018). This not only broadens the gap between experimental settings and real life but also severely limits the behaviours and populations that can be studied.
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an alternative brain monitoring technique that can overcome some limitations of EEG and fMRI and has gained popularity among researchers and clinicians during the last 30 years (Boas et al., 2014). fNIRS takes advantage of the relative transparency of skin and bones to electromagnetic radiation in the near infrared range (650–950 nm). It non-invasively transmits light through the scalp, skull, and cerebrospinal fluid to measure concentration changes of oxygenated, deoxygenated, and total haemoglobin in the brain tissue (Pinti et al., 2018). fNIRS is characterized by relatively high temporal and spatial resolution, low cost, portability, and movement tolerability. Consequently, this enables studies in more naturalistic settings, with populations that struggle to remain motionless (e.g., infants), as well as procedures that involve mobility and interactivity (Boas et al., 2014). This approach may be useful in the field of educational neuroscience for assessment of brain functioning during learning and teaching. Learning analytics importantly inform teaching practice capturing learner’s state during the learning process (Istenič Starčič, 2019). The goal of the presentation is to examine the suitability of fNIRS use in education research and provide proof of concept examples.
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