The effectiveness of applying inter-disciplinary approach in visual arts class

The aim of this study is to set forth the effects of applying inter-disciplinary approach in primary school 4th grade Visual Arts classes, on the attitude of the students towards the class, their critical thinking (analysis, evaluation, reasoning, interpretation, description, self regulation dimensions) skills, student products and their views towards the learning-teaching phase.The study group of the research has been comprised by a total of 44 students, attending 4th grade at a private Primary School located in Çankaya district of the province of Ankara. One of the classes has been attained as experimental group (n=21) while the other was control group (n=23) intact. In the research, ?pre-test ? post-test control grouped, semi experimental pattern? has been used by staying faithful to the joint method where quantitative and qualitative research methods are being deployed together.In order to gather information for the research; ?Attitude Scale?, ?Critical Thinking Scale?, ?Student Products Evaluation Form (Holistic Rubric)? have been used in experimental and control groups, and in addition, ?Feedback Forms? have been used to determine the views of the experimental group students towards the teaching phase. To analyze the quantitative sub-goals of the research, frequency, percentage, arithmetical average, as well as two factored ANOVA and Mann Whitney U tests, for repetitive measurements on single factor, have been deployed. On the other hand, descriptive analysis was used to analyze the qualitative sub-goals of the research.At the end of the research, in terms of the attitude of the students towards Visual Arts Class, no statistically meaningful difference has been found between the experimental and control groups, while a meaningful difference has been observed in favour of the experimental group, in terms of critical thinking skills and products by the students. In terms of the learning-teaching phase, it has been observed that the experimental group students held positive views on the following; most pleasing situations, getting assistance from the lecturer, their recommendations for the event, their emotions towards the study, their displeasing situations, the new and different things they have learned and the classes they have availed of.In the light of the research findings, a number of recommendations were provided.Key Words: Inter-Disciplinary Approach, Visual Arts Education, Critical Thinking, Attitude