A workshop general chemistry class is being developed that includes experimental work during every meeting. Lab work is merged with classroom discussion. Students working in groups are challenged to link their macroscopic observations to chemical principles. The merger of thirty-minute, concept- based discovery labs with discussion and lateral development material provides a unique perspective of chemistry. In modernizing the general chemistry curriculum, fewer topics are treated and the more esoteric aspects of physical chemistry that are inappropriate for freshmen are eliminated. More time is allocated to materials chemistry, organic and biological chemistry, and environmental science. The course material is organized into modules or case- studies that contain material which is developed with the specific aim of showing the relevance of the material to problems to which the students already have been exposed. Societal relevance is built into every module of the syllabus by incorporating laboratories, discussion and "lateral development" problems for each topic.
