Stem Literacy: Where Are We Now?

STEM literacy becomes a synergy of applying the knowledge and skills of STEM to "increase students' understanding of how things work and improve their use of technologies" (Bybee, 2010, p. 1) to "study the grand challenges of our era" (Bybee, 2010, p. 2). Addressing the issues that will present this generation will require the development of the STEM literacy of current students (Zollman, 2012). Developing STEM literacy must be a multi-faceted. Collaborative of industry and professionals, government support, education with highly qualified teachers, and a society that embraces STEM all feed into creating a STEM literate workforce (Augustine, 2005). Increasing STEM literacy of society, especially the youngest generation, is essential for addressing the issues that face humanity.