Investigating Perceptions of Relevance Towards Computation in an Introductory Physics for Life Science Course

Computational modeling is by now a central pillar of modern science, yet it remains underrepresented in most introductory physics curricula at the post-secondary level. Recently, physics departments have begun incorporating computation into introductory physics courses, including those designed for life science majors. Such students form a significant proportion of enrollees in introductory physics courses, and will enter a technological world in which computational thinking is increasingly valuable. In this exploratory and qualitative study, we investigate how students connect to, and perceive the relevance of, computational activities built into an introductory physics for life sciences course. We use an ecological systems framework to understand and investigate relevance. We categorize the different ways in which students do and do not perceive the relevance of computational modeling in our physics curriculum. Our findings point to choices in course design that may increase relevance of computation for life science students, and indicate what mechanisms affect students' perceptions of computational curriculum in these settings. In doing so, we begin to build a picture of how to incorporate computation into introductory physics courses.