The disciplines of biology and science education have undergone a revolution in the past two decades. The major focus of the biological sciences – understanding life – remains unchanged, but breakthrough discoveries of the second half of the 20th century have changed the basic nature of the questions asked, while new and emerging technologies are changing the ways key questions are addressed. In undergraduate science education, new approaches and new technologies are also emerging based on evolving theories of learning. New developments in higher education have changed the manner in which people pursue higher education, and there is also a growing appreciation of the need to broaden participation within the sciences by advancing the education of all students, including those from underrepresented groups and those who will enter careers outside of science. In addition, research examining how students learn has demonstrated that students can only learn about science by doing science. This has resulted in a shift away from breadth and into depth, emphasizing scientific competencies that underlie the process of science.

Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education is an initiative born of this revolution. Spearheaded by AAAS with support from the National Science Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Institutes of Health, and the United States Department of Agriculture, Vision & Change has involved stakeholders from educators to professional society partners to policymakers. Through research, meetings, conferences, and discussions over the course of a decade, consensus reports have been produced with the aim of uniting the undergraduate biology education community under a set of common principles.