Assessing Physics Scientific Literacy in Chinese Higher Education: A Survey Study

Physics scientific literacy is an important component of scientific literacy in higher education, but its conceptualization and assessment among undergraduate students remain limited. This study examines undergraduate students’ physics scientific literacy in the context of higher education in China. A questionnaire was developed and validated before administering with 518 undergraduate students at a comprehensive university in China. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a three-dimensional structure: Physics Knowledge, Critical Physics Reasoning, and Physics Interest and Disposition. The results suggest that students’ physics-related inquiry competence and perceived value of physics are closely connected, whereas their personal interest and disposition toward physics are distinct from their recognition of physics value. Further analyses showed that students’ physics scientific literacy varied by major, education level, and gender, with different patterns across the three dimensions. Physics majors generally reported higher scores than non-physics majors, while differences across years of study and gender group were more dimension-specific. These findings provide preliminary empirical evidence for understanding and assessing undergraduate students’ physics scientific literacy and may inform more differentiated physics education approaches in higher education.