Chemistry, Life, the Universe, and Everything: A New Approach to General Chemistry, and a Model for Curriculum Reform

The history of general chemistry is one of almost constant calls for reform, yet over the past 60 years little of substance has changed. Those reforms that have been implemented are almost entirely concerned with how the course is taught, rather than what is to be learned. Here we briefly discuss the history of the general chemistry curriculum and consider why meaningful change has been difficult. In this light we present a rationale for why curriculum reform is necessary, and how it can be accomplished, based on our current understanding of teaching and learning at the college level. We present a model for curriculum development based on five important questions: (i) What should students know? (ii) In what order should they learn it? (iii) What do students bring with them to the course? (iv) What materials are best suited for different purposes? and (v) How can student understanding be assessed? We use our new general chemistry course CLUE: Chemistry, Life, the Universe, and Everything as an example of materials developed in this way.