Nobel Prize winning physicist and Associate Director of Science for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Dr. Carl Wieman, delivered the joint plenary for the UTeach Institute - NMSI Conference and the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) Conference, both held May, 2011 in Austin, TX. Wieman highlighted the need for improved science instruction nationwide and discussed what we have learned from research on effective instructional strategies in college physics classrooms.