On September 9, 2026, Aly Burtch defended her thesis titled “Beyond Knowledge: How Scientific Literacy and Motivated Reasoning Shape Undergraduate Science and Engineering Students’ Perspectives on Socioscientific Issues.” The thesis examines the development of scientific literacy among undergraduate science and engineering students and explores the relationship between scientific literacy and perspectives on selected socioscientific issues, with a focus on identity and reasoning processes. Based on a survey of 444 students, the study suggest that undergraduate science and engineering education is associated with moderate development of scientific literacy, but that scientific literacy alone does not fully
explain students’ perspectives.
Congratulations, Dr. Burtch!
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