Peer Interaction Teaching-Learning Approaches for Effective Engagement of Students in Virtual Classroom

The virtual classroom teaching-learning, online meetings, and discussions are becoming most popular throughout the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic event. There is a need to enhance the engagement and thinking ability of the students during a virtual classroom using suitable tools. This study explores the perspective of engineering students and staff members towards virtual classroom teaching-learning in India and Ghana-West Africa. This study also proposes teaching-learning approaches to motivate students for effective engagement and thinking. As an outcome, problem-solving skills and necessary graduate attributes of the students will be developed and accomplished. The participants involved in the survey include 194 students and staff members from engineering colleges and universities in India and Ghana- West Africa. The questionnaire-based research method is used to collect the perspective of students and staff. The disciplines in engineering such as Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Computer Engineering are considered for analysis. The survey gives the challenges and benefits of virtual learning faced by the students and staff members. It also gives the expectation of the students and staff doing a virtual meeting. The research findings show that peer interaction teaching-learning methodologies such as brainstorming, role plays, group discussion, case studies, animated videos, games, and activities are best suitable in a virtual classroom to overcome the challenges addressed by the students and staff members. Based on the analysis of the survey, ICTbased tools, and applications for incorporating interactive teaching-learning methodologies have been listed with strategies and approaches to motivate and engage the students effectively in a virtual classroom environment.