Art for Art's Sake and More. Practitioner Research Briefs, 1999-2000 Report Series.

An adult educator who teachers General Educational Development (GED) test preparation conducted an action research project to determine whether learning activities requiring students to learn about and discuss famous paintings would equip them with critical thinking skills that they could eventually use when completing the reading and writing portions of the GED test. The instructor developed 10 brief (15-30 minutes) lessons around four paintings. The lessons required students to discuss what they saw in the paintings. Eventually, the students were asked to apply the same methods to several poems. Art and literary terms used during both sets of activities were recorded and kept for review. The instructor monitored students' progress in a research journal and interviewed four students about the art lessons and critical thinking. Students also completed several GED-type essay questions. The multiple levels of critical thinking exhibited by students surprised the instructor. During the study, students analyzed, associated, transferred, organized, listed, supported, explained, recognized, labeled, defined, compared, concluded, and created information. The teacher also collected evidence documenting that the lessons gave students new insight into the meaning of critical thinking and opportunities to gain knowledge from each other rather than just from books or their teacher. (MN)