Creating a Cultural Shift in Undergraduate Physics Education for 21st Century Outcomes

A number of recent activities in the physics community are linked to the goals of better preparing undergraduate physics graduates for 21^st century careers, increasing enrollments, and improving the diversity of the student body, including JTUPP, BPUPP, IPFs, and PIPELINE. These are worthy outcomes, and the panels which have researched approaches to accomplish them have comprised a range of physicists from research, industry, and academic communities, and engaged individuals and organizations ranging from education experts to economic development think tanks. It is not enough, of course, merely to research the problem and propose solutions – it is even more important to engage the physics academic community to actually make changes in the education process, and this demands a cultural shift. Other disciplines have succeeded in adjusting their curricular and pedagogical methods. How will physics respond?