How COVID-19 shaped biological physics teaching at Georgetown University

Like many academic institutions, Georgetown University abruptly pivoted to virtual instruction in March 2020. During the course of those spring and summer semesters, faculty were given access to "how to teach online" courses and workshops at institutions with deep virtual learning experience as well as at Georgetown. The important factor for a successful transition was the maintenance of cohesion and community. This can be a challenge in a traditional setting; in the online space, it felt quite daunting. Add to this the teaching of biological physics to very different cohorts of students and success seemed insurmountable. I will report on how significant changes made during COVID to our introductory biological physics course - which is taken after the introductory physics sequence - resulted in a doubling of the course enrollment. Importantly, these changes translated quite nicely once in-person teaching restrictions were lifted.