Student Engagement and The Brain Science Behind It
Have you ever taught a lesson that completely captivated your students, while another lesson on a similar topic seemed to fall flat?
If so, you’re not alone.
In this episode of Rainbow Skies for Teachers, we sat down with educator, researcher, and author Lisa Riegel to explore the fascinating brain science behind student engagement. Lisa has spent more than two decades helping educators understand how the brain works and how that knowledge can transform teaching and learning.
The conversation was packed with practical insights that can help teachers create classrooms where students feel connected, motivated, and ready to learn. Most importantly, it revealed that student engagement is not about getting students to comply. It’s about creating the conditions that allow their brains to engage naturally.
What Happens in the Brain When Students Are Engaged?
According to Lisa, when students are truly engaged, the brain’s prefrontal cortex becomes highly active. This area is responsible for thinking, reasoning, memory, and decision making.
When learning feels meaningful, the brain starts connecting new information with existing knowledge and past experiences. Rather than learning in isolation, students build stronger neural pathways that help information stick.
This is why some lessons seem to click instantly. The brain is constantly looking for connections, and when students can relate new learning to something they already know, engagement increases dramatically.
The Three Ingredients of Learning
One of the biggest takeaways from the episode was that the brain learns through:
- Repetition
- Experience
- Emotion
These three elements work together to strengthen learning pathways in the brain.
Think about a path through a grassy field. The more people walk the same route, the clearer the path becomes. Learning works in much the same way. Repeated exposure helps strengthen neural connections, while meaningful experiences and emotional connections make those pathways even stronger.
This is why bringing students’ interests into lessons can have such a powerful impact. Whether students are obsessed with Minecraft, fascinated by space, or excited about a seasonal event, connecting learning to their interests gives the brain something familiar to attach new knowledge to.
Why Relevance Matters More Than Ever
One of the most thought-provoking parts of the discussion centred around student motivation.
Lisa explained the concept of the “expectancy-value equation”. In simple terms, students are motivated when:
- They believe they can succeed.
- They see value in the task.
When either of these elements is missing, engagement suffers.
Imagine playing a video game where you could never access the tools needed to complete the next level. Most people would quit. Yet many students experience this feeling every day when they lack the skills, support, or confidence needed to succeed in learning.
At the same time, students are increasingly questioning the relevance of what they are learning. In a world where information is available instantly and artificial intelligence can perform many routine tasks, students need learning experiences that feel purposeful and meaningful.
The brain science behind student engagement tells us that relevance is not a nice extra. It is essential.
Why Safety Comes Before Learning
We often hear that students need to feel safe before they can learn, but what does that actually mean?
Lisa identified several types of safety that influence engagement:
Belonging
Students need to feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves. Strong classroom communities help students feel connected and valued.
Shared traditions, routines, celebrations, and classroom rituals can create a sense of collective identity that strengthens engagement.
Emotional Safety
Students need to know they can make mistakes, take risks, and participate without fear of embarrassment or judgement.
Positive relationships and supportive classroom cultures help create this foundation.
Intellectual Safety
Students need to believe they can be successful. When work consistently feels too difficult or overwhelming, engagement quickly disappears.
Psychological Safety
Students need opportunities for agency and voice. They need to feel that they have some control over their learning experience.
As Lisa reminds us, a stressed brain cannot engage. When students feel unsafe in any of these areas, the brain shifts its focus away from learning and towards self-protection.
One Simple Strategy Every Teacher Can Try
If you’re looking for a practical way to improve engagement immediately, Lisa shared a strategy with remarkable success: learning sprints.
Instead of asking students to maintain focus for long periods, break learning into short chunks of approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
Here’s how it works:
- Set a clear learning goal.
- Display a visible timer.
- Focus intensely for the designated period.
- Follow with a short brain break.
- Repeat.
The visible timer is the key.
When students can see exactly how much time remains, tasks feel more achievable. They learn to manage their attention, develop executive functioning skills, and build confidence through small wins.
The brain breaks between sprints can also be used to strengthen relationships, celebrate successes, or simply allow students to reset before the next learning block.
Curiosity Is the Gateway to Engagement
Another powerful insight from the episode was the importance of creating curiosity before teaching new content.
Rather than explaining everything first, Lisa encourages teachers to let students explore, experiment, and problem solve before direct instruction.
For example, instead of beginning an electricity unit with definitions and notes, students might first be challenged to light a bulb using simple materials.
This creates a genuine need to know.
When students encounter a problem before receiving the answer, their brains become primed for learning. The experience creates curiosity, and curiosity drives engagement.
Teacher Wellbeing Matters Too
The brain science behind student engagement is not just about students.
Lisa emphasised that teacher wellbeing directly impacts classroom engagement. Students are highly responsive to the emotional climate created by their teacher.
As she puts it, she has never seen a dysregulated teacher running a regulated classroom.
When teachers prioritise self-care, build supportive professional relationships, and take opportunities to regulate their own stress, the benefits flow directly into the classroom environment.
A calm, connected teacher helps create a calm, connected classroom.
The Big Takeaway
If there is one message to remember from this conversation, it is this:
A stressed brain cannot engage.
When we understand how the brain learns, we can design classrooms that foster curiosity, connection, relevance, and safety. We can move beyond compliance and create learning experiences that students genuinely want to be part of.
The brain science of student engagement reminds us that meaningful learning happens when students feel capable, connected, and curious.
And when we create those conditions, engagement stops being something we have to chase.
It becomes a natural outcome of great teaching.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Learn more about Lisa here
Connect with Lisa via email here: lisariegel@epinstitute.net
Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn
Lisa’s books: Neurowell and Aspirations to Operations
60 Brain Break Ideas you can use in class today!
About Today’s Guest
Lisa Riegel started her career in education, driven by one goal: to help people reach their potential. Over time, she realized that fulfillment, whether in a classroom, company, or community, comes from understanding how the brain drives behavior and how systems shape success.
That discovery became the foundation for her life’s work. As an educator, researcher, and author, she has spent two decades helping schools, leaders, parents, and organizations align brain science with human systems – creating cultures where people feel connected, capable, and in control of their growth.
Dr. Riegel earned dual bachelor’s degrees in English and Secondary Education from Kent State University. She holds a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Otterbein University and a Ph.D. in Education Policy and Leadership from The Ohio State University. Her work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and she has authored five books, including her two latest books, NeuroWell, and Aspirations to Operations, focused on brain science and how we can leverage it to help people become happier, healthier, and more successful.
