Think Like an Expert

Description: Think Like an Expert

Please cite the following reference if you use these data:

Meshulam M, Hasenfratz L, Hillman H, Liu Y-F, Nguyen M, Norman KA, Hasson U. Neural alignment predicts learning outcomes in students taking an introduction to computer science course. Nat Commun 12, 1922 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22202-3

This dataset contains data from 20 'student' and 5 'expert' participants. Students enrolled in an introduction to computer science course underwent six fMRI scanning sessions throughout the course. During the first five sessions, students were shown course lecture videos. On the final session, students were shown five recaps with highlights from previous weeks. In addition, participants were given a self-paced final exam in which they were asked to give verbal responses to visually presented questions. Experts underwent the final scan only.

At the beginning and end of each task, we appended 20-30 seconds of unrelated 'filler' audiovisual clips (from YouTube 'oddly satisfying' compilations, featuring, for example, objects being assembled neatly). The corresponding TRs were trimmed and are not included in the data.

T1 scans were obtained in every session. High definition T1 scans were obtained on ses-wk2 (students) and ses-wk6 (experts).

Behavioral data about the final exam is provided in the 'sourcedata' folder. Response onset/offset information is provided in exam_timing.tsv. Exam scores are provided in exam_scores.tsv.

A summary of the available task files is provided below.

Task Description Lecture Number of TRs
wk1_vid1 Lecture segment Conditionals & Loops 173
wk1_vid2 Lecture segment Conditionals & Loops 304
wk1_vid3 Lecture segment Conditionals & Loops 161
wk1_vid4 Lecture segment Conditionals & Loops 289
wk1_vid5 Lecture segment Conditionals & Loops 319
wk2_vid1 Lecture segment Functions & Libraries 414
wk2_vid2 Lecture segment Functions & Libraries 449
wk2_vid3 Lecture segment Functions & Libraries 310
wk3_vid1 Lecture segment Abstract Data Types 183
wk3_vid2 Lecture segment Abstract Data Types 456
wk3_vid3 Lecture segment Abstract Data Types 332
wk3_vid4 Lecture segment Abstract Data Types 113
wk4_vid1 Lecture segment Performance 313
wk4_vid2 Lecture segment Performance 299
wk4_vid3 Lecture segment Performance 321
wk4_vid4 Lecture segment Performance 270
wk5_vid1 Lecture segment Theory of computing 146
wk5_vid2 Lecture segment Theory of computing 251
wk5_vid3 Lecture segment Theory of computing 290
wk5_vid4 Lecture segment Theory of computing 367
wk5_vid5 Lecture segment Theory of computing 145
wk6_recap1 Recap Conditionals & Loops 99
wk6_recap2 Recap Functions & Libraries 98
wk6_recap3 Recap Abstract Data Types 97
wk6_recap4 Recap Performance 88
wk6_recap5 Recap Theory of computing 95
wk6_placement Exam N/A N/A