Information Technology-Enabled Scientific Literacy Assessment: Developmental History, Research Hotspots and Future Trends

Abstract

In the face of the demand for scientific, efficient, and personalized scientific literacy assessment in science education, the shortcomings of traditional assessment methods have become increasingly obvious. Therefore, the development history, current status, and future direction of information technology-enabled scientific literacy assessment have become key issues in the field of science education. To this end, a systematic literature review of the empirical research results on scientific literacy assessment at home and abroad from 1950 to 2025 was conducted to discuss the transformation, hotspots, and future trends of scientific literacy assessment methods. It is found that scientific literacy assessment methods have gone through three stages: paper-and-pencil test, computerized static assessment, and computer-based human-computer interaction. The research focuses on scientific literacy assessment based on multi-scenario expressive evaluation and integration of multi-modal data. Finally, the paper makes an outlook in five aspects, including active integration of generative artificial intelligence and attention to local innovation.