Beyond Competence: A Dynamic Engineering Literacy Model Integrating Consciousness and Culture for STEM Teacher Preparation

Engineering literacy research has been dominated by static, competence-based frameworks that fail to explain how attributes evolve dynamically and systematically underrepresent two critical dimensions: engineering consciousness as a cognitive precursor to decision-making, and engineering culture as a value-laden, inherited dimension sustaining professional identity across generations. These gaps are particularly consequential for STEM teacher preparation, where cultivating comprehensive engineering literacy in future educators is hypothesized to create a multiplier effect on societal STEM engagement. This study develops a theoretical model through a systematized literature retrieval and critical synthesis of engineering literacy literature (2005–2025; N = 113 publications), combined with theoretical deduction grounded in system theory and synergy theory. Two research questions guide the study: (1) How is the connotation of engineering literacy systematically reconstructed under multiple transformations? (2) What is the synergistic evolution logic among its constituent elements, and how can this logic inform curriculum design for STEM teacher preparation? The design utility of the model is illustrated through a curriculum design case. The analysis yields a “multi-driver, five-dimension synergy” dynamic model comprising five interconnected elements (knowledge, competence, consciousness, ethics, and culture) that co-evolve through a “consciousness–action–culture” spiral cycle, in which culture functions as the slow variable governing the long-term evolution of the entire system. The curriculum design case (a 64 h course for pre-service teachers centered on the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge) illustrates how the model guided curricular decisions in four areas: consciousness activation before skill training, distributed cultural integration, multidimensional assessment, and operationalization of the multiplier effect through a teaching transformation module. The study advances engineering literacy theory by upgrading it from a static competence inventory to a culturally embedded, consciousness-driven adaptive ecosystem and provides a potentially transferable curriculum design framework for STEM teacher preparation. As a design case, the curriculum blueprint awaits implementation and empirical validation; claims about learning outcomes, multiplier effects, and cross-cultural applicability are theoretical hypotheses rather than empirically validated findings.