Science literacy is typically one goal of general education curricula in higher education yet it has been underappreciated in its ambiguities, complexity, and potential impact. While STEM education initiatives often focus on producing STEM majors and professionals, issues like climate change, pandemics, and social media algorithms affect people of all backgrounds and professions and therefore require solutions from a broad swath of society. Science literacy also has other purposes besides utility, such as cultural value and aesthetics.

In this workshop that will take place over three half-days, participants will

·      address how to identify the characteristics of robust science literacy through discussing and developing use cases

·      identify challenges at the classroom and institutional scales

·      strategize ways to foster science literacy among undergraduate students with disparate disciplinary interests

·      create personal action plans

·      form community with each other for further work on how to best enhance science literacy

We welcome applications to participate in this workshop from all who have perspectives on advancing science literacy in higher education, including instructors of introductory science and engineering courses that have science literacy as an objective, educators in co-curricular projects related to science literacy, administrators looking to develop or refine general education programs, and pedagogy experts involved in mentoring educators and/or conducting education research on science literacy.