Syncing Minds for Learning: Student-Teacher Inter-brain Coupling Forecast Cross-semester Academic Fluctuation in Real-World Classrooms

Student performance exhibits dynamic fluctuates throughout the learning process, which reflects deeper educational myths and impacts educational quality and equity. Although teachers are believed to play a pivotal role in shaping these changes, the mechanisms through which student-teacher interactions drive performance variations across individual students remain unclear. The present study investigates student-teacher inter-brain coupling in authentic classroom environments through longitudinal neurophysiological recordings spanning three academic semesters. Using wearable hyperscanning technology, a total of 4,175 longitudinal EEG recordings were collected from 107 junior and senior students across 393 regular Chinese and math classes. While static models revealed a negative association between student-teacher inter-brain coupling and math performance--likely reflecting teacher selection effects--dynamic analyses showed that increased coupling, particularly in the high-beta frequency band, causally predicted academic improvement in both subjects. These findings highlight the functional significance of inter-brain coupling in real-world classroom learning, providing robust ecological validity and supporting its potential as a measurable marker of effective pedagogy. Significance StatementThis study is the first to provide causal evidence, based on real-world classroom data, that enhanced student-teacher inter-brain coupling improved academic performance. Leveraging 4,175 longitudinal EEG recordings from 107 students across three semesters, we show that higher coupling levels predict better learning outcomes over time. Capturing neural dynamics in authentic classrooms, this research offers high ecological validity and strong potential for practical application and large-scale educational implementation.