Strategies to Improve Students’ Participation and Enrich Students’ Leaning of a Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Machinery Course

Abstract

In recent years, the process of teaching learning in the classrooms has changed from traditional mode to the use of collaborative learning techniques. Social media is playing an important role in the society to aware the people about the happenings in the surrounding, exchange information, and to develop interpersonal relations among the people. The present study is an attempt to explore the opportunity to use WhatsApp in order to enhance the students’ learning index. The participants in the study were 68 Second Year Engineering students studying the ‘Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Machinery’ course. The WhatsApp group created for the course was effectively used for interactions of the students with the teachers and peers. The guidelines were communicated to the students to use the group for technical discussions after the working hours. The students were expected to spend one hour in the evening to discuss the concepts taught in the classroom, on the same day. The students were enabled to discuss with the peers and the course teacher on a common platform, to help revise the concepts and get answers for their queries. Additionally, WhatsApp served as the best dynamic tool to share different documents necessary as a part of the teaching-learning process. The impact assessment shows that course results and attainment of course outcomes were considerably improved and initiative helped to establish a better personal connection with the students. The students’ feedback indicates that they appreciated the idea and expressed the benefits of forming the group.