Abstract: During the critical period of technological and innovative development, both shifting from an isolated focus on K-12 students’ technology literacy or engineering literacy to an integrated focus on their technology and engineering literacy, and continuously cultivating interdisciplinary innovative talents serve as important engines for conforming to the trends of integrated knowledge systems and diversified talent capability development, as well as comprehensively advancing the integrated development of education, technology, and talent. Given that some teachers and students hold misconceptions about the concept of “technology and engineering literacy”, it is necessary to employ a method combining historical review and comparative analysis, to clarify the connotation of K-12 students’ technology and engineering literacy from five dimensions: knowledge base, skill requirements, thinking modes, practical activities, and social responsibility, and to elucidate its value in promoting the integrated development of students’ five aspects of education and supporting the cultivation of technological innovation talents. To improve students’ such literacy, we should innovate the technology and engineering education system to guide K-12 students in achieving the integrated development of knowledge, practice, and creation, leverage the synergistic effectiveness of multiple stakeholders to build a community of practice for technology and engineering education, focus on the unity of technology and humanities to explore a cultivation model for technology and engineering literacy that integrates ancient and modern wisdom, and adhere to the unity of international reference and local construction, i.e. to implement technology and engineering education according to local conditions.

Key words: technology literacy, engineering literacy, technology and engineering literacy, K-12 students, interdisciplinary innovative talents, technology and engineering education, STEM education