The University of Calfornia, Irvine (UCI) proposes a Campuswide Reform Initiative for Undergraduate Education that focuses on developing students' scientific and technological literacy skills which are needed for the 21st century. It is essential that al1 students -- not just science, mathematics, engineering and technology (SMET) majors-are prepared to succeed in and contribute to the changing context of life and work in this post-industria1 world. With NSF funding and leadership from UCI's Chancellor, Dean of Undergraduate Education, and other key faculty the Campuswide Reform Initiative will result in (1) major curricular and course content changes, especially in mathematics, engineering, and computer science, (2) the infusion of educational technolology throughout the undergraduate curriculum, and (3) .a change in the campus climate regarding curricular innovation and reform. This project will build on current efforts at UCI to improve undergraduate education, including several funded by NSF, including: the California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) recently renewed by NSF for five more years; the Southern CA Coalition for Education in Manufacturing Engineering (SCCEME) designed to reform manufacturing engineering; UCI's new Interdisciplinary Minor in Global Sustainability, a collaborative effort across five of UCI's schools; and Project SMART (Science and Mathematics Articulated Roads Toward Teaching), funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and cited by NSF as a national model for teacher preparation. The current project will provide the catalyst for developing and implementing more pervasive, campuswide changes in undergraduate education at UCI. Specifically, NSF funds will be used for several campuswide planning retreats, the creation of multidisciplinary curricular committees, a mini-grants program for faculty, instructional technology training for students and faculty, and a Teaching Colloquy series focused on effective uses of instructional technology. Additional curri cular components will include the development of four new courses (an engineering literacy course, an expansion of the "Idioms of Science" course for non-science students, and two teacher preparation courses), new "dual competency" minors in computer science,, and new models of instructional technology (e g, hypertext textbooks and a multimedia library accessible from campus classrooms) The World Wide Web will be the primary vehicle for dissemination and will contain documents, materials, and prototypes generated by the project, plus links to other Web sites supported by this NSF initiative. Additional dissemination activities will include presentations at national meetings and papers written for educational and professional journals. The project evaluation will consist of an Internal, formative evaluation as well as an external, summative evaluation, using data collected from course enrollments, student satisfaction surveys, focus groups, and interviews. The Campuswide Reform Initiative for Undergraduate Education will have long-term impact on the quality of undergraduate education at UCI enriching the scientific and technological competencies of both SMET majors and non-majors More importantly, it will ensure that all these changes occur within a framework that is shaped by a campuswide perspective and an integrated approach to planning and implementation.
