In the spring of 2020, many colleges and universities had to move their classes online due to COVID-19. This move to the virtual environment highlighted a growing problem in higher education, being increase failure rates for online students. This study addressed two research questions: 1) To what extent does the use of short lectures and small working groups in synchronous online mathematic classes affect student problem-solving behavior? and 2) How does this method affect student engagement and motivation? The study employed a mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design. Quantitative and qualitative data were triangulated using multiple resources including interviews and surveys. Quantitative data analysis involved a combination of pair sample t-test for the problem-solving assessments and non-paired sample t-test for the surveys. Qualitative data analysis incorporated axial coding of transcribed interviews. Three key findings emerged. First, there were statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-treatment assessment means (0.05) for the problem-solving behavior components of conceptual understanding and connections, strategies and reasoning, and computation/execution. Second, students shifted from being risk adverse and isolated problem-solvers to becoming risk aware and collaborative problem-solvers. Third, engagement and motivation categories of Anxiety and Failure Avoidance both showed there were statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-treatment survey means (0.05). Results from this study showed that students working collaboratively in a virtual environment seem to improve their problem-solving behavior and the level of their engagement in learning mathematics. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]