Enhancing Undergraduate Literacy in STEM Contexts: A Systematic Literature Review of Interventions

Despite the increased importance of literacy for STEM professionals, current instruction often fails to properly prepare students for careers. STEM degree programs are often already full of content-specific requirements, making it essential to identify effective ways to integrate literacy instruction within existing curricula. The purpose of this study is to systematically review published research investigating strategies for developing undergraduate students’ STEM literacy skills to discover what we already know as a field and evaluate how literacy-focused interventions can support student achievement. We screened over 2,000 articles and included 85 in the present review. Our findings demonstrate that substantial research has been conducted in developing literacy in STEM contexts, especially with students attending four-year institutions and in life science fields. Our results suggest that short, targeted interventions can effectively improve discrete literacy skills, particularly when paired with explicit instruction.