An fsQCA approach to identifying pathways to K-9 students’ online learning engagement

Student engagement has been shown to function as a pathway leading to valued educational outcomes. This study used fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to reveal how various configurations of sex, grade level, teaching presence, social presence, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and parental support lead to high online learning engagement (OLE) in a sample of 516 compulsory education (K-9) students from three provinces in Central and Eastern China. The results indicated that eight configurations of the conditions were required to attain high OLE. Of these, one configuration was sufficient to explain high OLE for all students regardless of sex and grade level, five different configurations lead to high OLE for elementary school students, and one configuration explained high OLE for boys and girls regardless of grade level. Identifying these specific configurations could help teachers to design and provide personalized online learning experiences that enhance student engagement.