  We present outcomes from curricular changes made to an introductory
calculus-based physics course whose audience is primarily life science majors,
the majority of whom plan to pursue post-baccalaureate studies in medical and
scientific fields. During the 2011-12 academic year, we implemented a "Physics
of the life sciences" curriculum centered on a draft textbook that takes a
novel approach to teaching physics to life science majors. In addition,
substantial revisions were made to the homework and hands-on components of the
course to emphasize the relationship between physics and the life sciences and
to help the students to learn to apply physical intuition to life
science-oriented problems. Student learning and attitudinal outcomes were
assessed both quantitatively, using standard physics education research
instruments, and qualitatively, using student surveys and a series of
post-semester interviews. Students experienced high conceptual learning gains,
comparable to other active learning-based physics courses. Qualitatively, a
substantial fraction of interviewed students reported an increased interest in
physics relative to the beginning of the semester. Furthermore, more than half
of students self-reported that they could now relate physics topics to their
majors and future careers, with interviewed subjects demonstrating a high level
of ability to come up with examples of how physics affects living organisms and
how it helped them to better understand content presented in courses in their
major.
