This report focuses on the open laboratory procedures used in the freshman biology course at Hamline University. The study aimed to review a number of specific methods used in conducting the unstructured and unscheduled laboratory procedures and discover the most effective arrangement using those procedures. The report includes detailed discussions of methods used in the open laboratory. Problems of equipment storage, clarity of directions, laboratory assistants, faculty responsibility, conference periods, examinations, record-keeping and report writing are examined. Comparisons are made between student time spent in the laboratory and grade performance, and between space utilization in the traditional laboratories and in the open laboratories. Final forms of laboratory manuel revisions and results of student evaluation forms are included. The conclusions concern faculty-student relations and their reactions to the course. It is noted that although the open laboratory itself was successful, the general biology course was cancelled and replaced with separate courses for majors and non-majors. The last section of the report contains the rationale and outline of the new biology curriculum resulting from this study and includes methods for continuing evaluation of its content and effectiveness. (DS)