Purpose The study aims to develop a theoretical model that highlights the determinants of the adoption of online teaching at the time of the outbreak of COVID-19. This study adopted a time-series analysis to understand the factors leading to the adoption of online teaching. Design/methodology/approach Empirical data were gathered from 222 university faculty members by using an online survey. In the first phase, data were collected from those faculty members who had no experience of conducting online classes but were supposed to adopt online teaching as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown. After two weeks, a slightly modified questionnaire was forwarded to the same group of faculty members, who were conducting online classes to know their perception regarding the adoption and conduct of online teaching. Findings Both the proposed conceptual frameworks were investigated empirically through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Significant differences were found in the perceptions of faculty members regarding before and after conducting classes through online teaching. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by presenting and validating a theory-driven framework that accentuates the factors influencing online teaching during the outbreak of a pandemic. This research further extends the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology by introducing and validating three new constructs, namely: facilitative leadership, regulatory support and project team capability. Based on the findings, practical insights are provided to universities to facilitate adoption, acceptance and use of online teaching during a health-care emergency leading to campus lockdowns or the imposition of restrictions on the physical movement of people.

Engineering laboratory courses have a significant role in building practical knowledge and enhancing the skills of the students. While working in electronics laboratories, students often operate complicated laboratory equipment and juggle through a set of multiple knobs and buttons to configure the equipment(s). It takes a lot of practice to master the skill of operating the laboratory equipment and it becomes difficult for students to operate the equipment without any prior experience. Virtual reality (VR) is the emerging technology and has the potential to provide a better learning experience to the students. In this paper, a VR‐based learning environment (VLE) is developed, which aims to give prior training to the engineering students about the electronics laboratory hardware. An experimental study was conducted to measure the effectiveness of VR on student knowledge development, learning motivation, and cognition. The study was conducted among the 65 engineering students and they were randomly divided into two groups: treatment group (N = 33) and control group (N = 32). The students of the treatment group were taught with the VR approach and students of the control group were taught with a conventional teaching approach. The outcomes of the experiment indicate that VR has a significant positive impact on student knowledge, learning motivation, and cognition. By interacting with the three‐dimensional virtual models of the laboratory instruments, students were able to demonstrate an improved understanding of the laboratory hardware. Also, the treatment group students mentioned that they were not worried about the equipment malfunction that has further enhanced their confidence and reduced the cognitive load.

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In engineering education, laboratory experience is powerful in building up the specialized aptitudes and skills of the engineering graduates by structuring and conducting practical experiments. In engineering laboratories, the student often deals with complex laboratory equipment to perform the experiment. Oscilloscope and function generator are frequently used electronic equipment in electronics engineering laboratories. Augmented reality (AR) technology has the capacity to provide a unique learning experience to the students which can ease down the difficulties faced by students while operating laboratory equipment. In this paper, an augmented reality learning environment (ARLE) is developed which could help the student in operating the laboratory equipment. The study aims to determine the impact of AR intervention on student laboratory skills, cognitive load, and learning motivation. The experiment was conducted amongst 60 first‐year undergraduate engineering students. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: Experimental group and Control group. The participants of the experimental group were given ARLE treatment while the participants from the control group were given traditional teaching treatment. The experimental results suggest that AR intervention has a significant positive impact on student laboratory skills. Also, ARLE is an effective tool in reducing the cognitive load of students while operating laboratory equipment. The student feedback indicates that the students of the experimental group operated the equipment without any fear of damaging the equipment as they were already familiarized with the equipment in ARLE. The results of this study recommend AR as an adequate technology for developing unique AR experiences for engineering education.

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