A highly innovative polymer laboratory class is created to accompany an increasingly popular interdisciplinary polymer science lecture class. Carefully considered and selected state-of-the-art instrumentation is acquired and used in conjunction with "just in time" learning under the premise of the student's being faced with realistic industrial situations whereby specific technical questions have to be addressed within a limited period of time. Five separate experiments emphasizing and reinforcing the material presented in lecture are performed. The laboratory class is team taught by one faculty member from Chemical Engineering and one from the Chemistry Department; heavy contact hours between the student and these faculty in an intimate laboratory setting are an indispensable part of the course. *
