Making the Traditional Relevant

An unique omnidisciplinary seminar served as the independent variable in a study in which the main dependent variable was the students’ (n = 17) self-evaluated ability to discuss contemporary “relevant” topics from the standpoint of traditional academic disciplines (e.g., discuss population control in the context of anthropology; education; history, economics, political science; literature; music, art, theater; natural and physical science; philosophy; sociology; theology) . Analysis of pre and post treatment scores of seventeen behavioral science majors showed a significant increase in this ability (Wilcoxon T = 15, p<.01). Pre treatment difficulty based on mental set and functional fixedness was held to be counteracted by the effect of the omnidisciplinary seminar on learning to learn and transfer processes.