Learning from others is good, with others is better
Think about the last time you learned something new. Were you learning about it by watching a video, reading a book, or discussing it with someone?
Research suggests that social interaction plays a key role in how we learn—but why? How do we learn with others? My studies explore questions like:
Can social interaction synchronise teacher's and learner's brains and influence how we learn from others? Do adolescents learn better from their peers? Does learning in a conversation feel different from learning alone? How do teachers and students coordinate their attention? Is everyone better at learning socially?
Human interactions are rich and complex
I use a multi-modal approach (combining hyperscanning neuroimaging, eye-tracking, physiological and behavioural measures) to study how learning unfolds in real-time, across different levels (cognitive, neural, behavioural, physiological).
Using time-series analysis modelling, my work tries to understand how these different streams of data contribute to shaping the inter-personal dynamics naturally arising when two (or more) people interact. From these models, I try to define what makes a social interaction 'successful', especially in the context of learning.
To do that, I study social learning in different contexts and populations—including neurotypical and autistic individuals, adults and adolescents.
You can find more details on specific research projects here.