Chapter 2: Service Learning and Stem Literacy: A Case Study of Speech Students and a Natural History Museum

We explored how literacy in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) can be developed through service learning. A study was designed in which a service-learning project paired a natural history museum with an aeronautical university; specifically enrolled were university students in speech classes. College students fulfilled an assignment to create audio files about museum specimens for museum visitors. The goal was to increase interest in and provide an online outreach for the museum. The university offers STEM-related majors, including engineering, aviation, physics, and homeland security. Most students had an interest in STEM, however many were not familiar with natural history so research was required to develop the scripts and subsequent audio files. The script needed to follow guidelines set forth by the director of the museum, who gave students feedback before they made the digital audio files. The results indicated that students increased their STEM content knowledge and demonstrated STEM literacy, however, STEM literacy varied between participants as well as between science, technology, and engineering elements.