Enhancing elementary students’ question-asking skills with the KWLQ strategy in blended synchronous classrooms

Aim and background Blended synchronous classrooms (BSC) enable real-time connections between local and remote students, promoting equitable science education. However, remote learners often show lower engagement and weaker inquiry participation, leading to poorer outcomes. As question-asking skills (QAS) are vital for scientific inquiry and higher-order thinking, enhancing QAS can help address these challenges. This study examines whether the know-want to know-learned-more questions (KWLQ) strategy can systematically improve remote students’ QAS in elementary science BSC.Sample and method The study involved 110 remote students from two rural Chinese elementary schools, two intact remote classes were assigned to the experimental condition (KWLQ-based instruction, n = 55) and the control condition (inquiry-based instruction, n = 55). The intervention spanned 10 lessons on the ‘Sound’ unit. QAS was evaluated through pre- and post-tests across three dimensions: quantity, quality, and expression. Quantitative data were analyzed using independent and paired t-tests, while thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with teachers and students provided qualitative insights into the mechanisms supporting QAS development in BSC.Result and discussion Findings showed that the experimental group, which received KWLQ-based instruction, demonstrated si gnificantly greater overall improvement in QAS than the control group. Notably, the experimental group showed marked gains in the quality of questions asked and the total QAS score, while there was no significant difference in the number of questions or the quality of question expression between groups. Within-group comparisons revealed that only the experimental group exhibited significant pre- to post-test gains across QAS, whereas the control group showed minimal change. Findings also revealed that students perceived the KWLQ scaffolding as a critical mechanism for shifting from passive reception to active inquiry. Teachers further noted that the structured prompts, particularly in the W and Q phase, significantly enhanced students’ initiative in articulating curiosity and metacognitive reflection, although improvements in linguistic precision remained limited.