{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T18:32:56Z","timestamp":1791397976754,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]],"date-time":"2026-03-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774224000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Planning of Educational Sciences","award":["DIA250396"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DIA250396"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The effectiveness of online teaching has emerged as a critical concern during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular emphasis on fostering a sustained interest in online instruction among educators. This study employs fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to investigate the complex causal relationships that underpin the online teaching efficacy of elementary school teachers. A comprehensive questionnaire was administered to 171 elementary school teachers, capturing their perspectives across six key dimensions: the acceptability of online teaching, teachers\u2019 Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), students\u2019 autonomous learning, teacher-student interaction, course design and implementation, and technological support for teaching. The findings reveal a multiplicity of configurations that contribute to enhanced online teaching effectiveness, with teachers\u2019 acceptance of online teaching and their TPACK being identified as central conditions, pivotal for the improvement of online teaching effectiveness.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0345463","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]],"date-time":"2026-03-23T17:30:37Z","timestamp":1774287037000},"page":"e0345463","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Optimizing online teaching effectiveness in elementary education: Exploring multifaceted pathways based fsQCA analysis"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4042-2799","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Xiaofang","family":"Ma","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0345463.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1256529","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2023.1256529","article-title":"Effectiveness and influencing factors of online teaching among primary and secondary school teachers in China during the COVID-19: in depth interviews","volume":"14","author":"X Ma","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front Psychol"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0345463.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"332","DOI":"10.5115\/acb.21.006","article-title":"Online educational methods vs. traditional teaching of anatomy during the COVID-19 pandemic","volume":"54","author":"T Totlis","year":"2021","journal-title":"Anat Cell Biol"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0345463.ref003","first-page":"760","article-title":"COVID-19 pandemic and e-learning system: perception of teaching faculty at medical colleges in Pakistan","volume":"14","author":"HMI Afzal","year":"2020","journal-title":"Pak J Med Health Sci"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0345463.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1665","DOI":"10.1007\/s10639-020-10331-z","article-title":"\u201cI\u2019m not against online teaching, but what about us?\u201d: ICT in Ghana post Covid-19","volume":"26","author":"MA Adarkwah","year":"2021","journal-title":"Educ Inf Technol (Dordr)"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0345463.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"505","DOI":"10.1080\/08841233.2021.1988032","article-title":"The abrupt transition to distance social work teaching: lessons learned in the age of COVID-19","volume":"41","author":"L Shklarski","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Teach Soc Work"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0345463.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.5296\/ijld.v12i1.19804","article-title":"Perceived effectiveness of online teaching and learning of accounting during COVID-19 pandemic and its influencing factors","volume":"12","author":"N Inusah","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Learn Dev"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0345463.ref007","first-page":"354","article-title":"Conceptual framework of factors affecting online teaching","volume":"5","author":"HS Husin","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int J Innov Res Sci Stud"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0345463.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.4018\/IJOPCD.302087","article-title":"Exploring effective online-teaching transition of college teachers during COVID-19","volume":"12","author":"G Prakasha","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int J Online Pedagogy Course Design"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0345463.ref009","first-page":"66","article-title":"An empirical study on the influencing factors of teachers\u2019 digital teaching competence: Based on PLS-SEM and fsQCA methods","volume":"35","author":"X Zhou","year":"2025","journal-title":"Modern Educ Technol"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0345463.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"393","DOI":"10.5465\/amj.2011.60263120","article-title":"Building better causal theories: a fuzzy set approach to typologies in organization research","volume":"54","author":"PC Fiss","year":"2011","journal-title":"Acad Manage J"},{"key":"pone.0345463.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100459","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhlste.2023.100459","article-title":"Which combination of teaching methods lead to high level of effectiveness in offline-online mixed teaching? 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