Science education in the US is experiencing
significant changes at all
levels. This wave of science education
reform is deeply rooted in the
post-Sputnik efforts to improve science education,
though the driving
forces are different. In this talk I
will provide some historical
perspective to science education reform, and
discuss a widely used
model for systemic change. I will demonstrate
that there are clear
analogs to systemic change at the undergraduate
level, especially in
physics. I will discuss a couple of
those examples, including a
revision of the introductory calculus-based
sequence at the University
of Texas at El Paso that has significantly
improved retention among the
primarily Hispanic student body.