Lessons from the IPLS community to inform biological physics curriculum development, implementation, and dissemination

Biological physics offers exciting opportunities for bringing forefront science into the undergraduate physics curriculum, yet there are also significant challenges in either incorporating biological physics into the standard curriculum or adding undergraduate elective courses in biological physics. Over nearly 20 years, a national community of physics curriculum developers and physics education researchers have worked together to develop a family of curricula for introductory physics for the life sciences (IPLS) — a curriculum in which the connections between the life sciences and allied health fields to physics are highlighted, in order to better support the ways these students will use their knowledge of physics in the future, as well as to help support their motivation to learn physics. In this talk, I will share lessons from that effort to inform the biological physics community as we seek to bring our science to undergraduate students; I will also share research results indicating that in our IPLS course, students gain enduring skills, understanding, and improved motivation and interest. These lessons range from big-picture strategy to practical tips on how to share materials effectively.