STUDY ON USING ELEGANT TASKS FOR PRIMARY ONE PUPILS TO LEARN ART

This action research study explored the use of Elegant Tasks for thirty primary one pupils from a neighbourhood school to learn Art. According to Sandra Kay (1998), an elegant task is an open-ended-problem approach that serves to elicit “creative thoughts’ and ‘elegant’ or ‘aesthetically meaningful’ solutions from pupils. Apart from making the teaching of art interesting, the application of Elegant Tasks help to amuse the pupils into developing an awareness of his or her own-style of thinking, its strong points and its weaknesses. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions. The findings from this study showed that pupils like the adoption of Elegant Tasks in their art lessons as they were given enough room to explore materials, make new discoveries, and work collaboratively in groups. Besides, this approach has also developed a strong sense of ownership and pride in their artworks as witnessed from pupils’ presentation of their artworks at the end of each elegant task topic.


INTRODUCTION
I have been a Primary School Art teacher for many years.Prior to this research study, I taught Art to my pupils in the same manner that I was taught this subject when I was a primary school pupil.The strategy that I had adopted all these years was a teacher-centred, product-driven approach in which I provided all the required information, instructions, demonstrations, samples and followed by my pupils' production of artworks.Hence, my pupils learnt

ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE ONE: DERIVATION OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS
While searching for a pupil-centred pedagogy, I was introduced to "Elegant Task" approach by one of the officers from STAR (Singapore Teachers' Academy for the aRts) during an Art Workshop in February 2013.During the workshop, I learnt ways of designing art lessons that focused on pupils' creativity and imagination using Elegant Task.This approach also allows pupils to explore materials and participate actively in the art-making process.After learning about this new approach, I was eager to find an opportunity to try it out on my pupils.
During my first Consultation session with STAR officers in May 2013 for my Action Research study project, we brainstormed on a few possible pupil-centred methodologies suitable to be used for this study, such as Inquiry-based approach, Experiential Learning and Elegant Task approach.After debating on the pros and cons of each method, we came to a unanimous consensus that Elegant Task approach is more suitable for this study as it is a relatively new approach which has not been used or tested in a Primary School in Singapore before and it also fulfills the criteria of being a pupil-centric, process-driven approach that develops pupils' creativity and imagination.By using Elegant Tasks to teach Art, my pupils would have opportunities to make choices and decisions in the ideation stage and during the art-making process.The choice of using Elegant Tasks was subsequently adopted for my Art lessons and simultaneously I embarked on my research project.Hence, for the research, the broad question that my study addressed was: "What are the Primary 1 pupils' perceptions on the use of Elegant Tasks in Art lessons?" Beside the broad research question, we also crafted six specific questions to guide my inquiry and to enable me to collect data to answer the broad research question.The STAR officers helped me to scope my research area into three broad themes, firstly, we want to find out whether the pupils like the Elegant Task approach, secondly, we want to find out what pupils actually learn if I use Elegant Task approach in Art lessons, and lastly, we want to find out whether Elegant Task approach helps pupils to produce quality artworks.With these three themes in mind, we further break down each theme into six manageable bite-size questions.These six specific questions were later used during the focus group discussions to collect data.
The six specific questions were as follows: 1. Do the pupils like the Elegant Tasks approach to learning Art and doing artwork?If yes/no, why? 2. Give an example of an Elegant Task Art lesson which the pupils liked and disliked.Which parts of the lessons do they like/dislike and why do they like/dislike those parts?3. What can the pupils learn about art-marking when Elegant Tasks are deployed?4. Apart from art-making, what else can the pupils learn during the Elegant Task Art lessons? 5. Can the Elegant Task approach help the pupils to produce quality artworks?If yes, in what ways?If no, why? 6.What else can be done to enhance the Art lessons?If yes, can the lessons be improved based on pupils' feedback at the end of each elegant task?

ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE TWO: CONDUCT LITERATURE REVIEW
In this action research cycle, the findings of literature review are presented in three different sections.The first section, "the 2009 Primary and Lower Secondary Art Syllabus and its influence on the teaching of Art", describes the syllabus set by authority.The second section, "Elegant Tasks, its characteristics and its effect", explains the meanings of an elegant task and on how an elegant task can meet the syllabus mentioned in section one.The third section, "understanding the different types of learning dimensions in learners", provides a set of pointers for designing a lesson using an Elegant Task.
The 2009 Primary and Lower Secondary Art Syllabus and its influence on the teaching of Art In Singapore, Art is deemed by the Ministry of Education (MOE) as an important subject through which pupils at all educational levels can be equipped with the 21 st century competencies and be holistically prepared for successful adult life.This is seen in the recent move by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to strengthen aesthetic education (MOE, 2010).Its revised 2009 Primary and Lower Secondary Art Syllabus recommended that the primary schools' planning of their Art Instructional Programme should be guided by six principles, namely, "learner-centred", "process-oriented", "contextualized", "interactive", "initiative-related" and "fun" to fulfill seven objectives, amongst which are: (1) "create artworks to share their ideas, thoughts and feelings", (2) "cultivate a spirit of innovation and experimentation" and (3) "develop sensory awareness and imagination" (MOE, 2008, p 3 & 7).The implementation of the guiding principles for planning the Instructional Programme and the objectives spelt out in the revised 2009 Primary and Lower Secondary Art Syllabus is concretised in 2010 when MOE moved to strengthen Art education.
The learning outcomes for the Primary One and Two pupils are spelt out in the 2009 Art-syllabus as follows: 1.These learning outcomes, which are derived from the objectives and the framework of "Seeing", "Expressing" and "Appreciating" in the Art Syllabus, will allow the students to "observe their environment, generate ideas, create artworks, discuss about art and value the role of art in society" (MOE, 2008).In short, Art education in Singapore aims to enable every student to be visually literate and to appreciate art.

Elegant task, its characteristics and its effect
Teaching for creative development necessitates designing lessons that allow learners to perceive, select, and explore, through their own lenses, all the possible visual solutions to the problem (Kay, 1998).In short, teaching of Art needs to be pupil-centric and process-driven so as to develop the creativity and imagination of learners.For this study, I had adopted the Elegant Task approach for my art lessons.The concept of Elegant Task originated from Sandra Kay (1998) who defined it as an open-ended problem which will elicit 'creative thoughts' and 'elegant' or 'aesthetically meaningful' solutions from pupils.According to Kay, an elegant task is one that is worth solving, is studio-based and contains forced choices and constraints, and the level of the elegant task, which ranged from 'beginner' to 'independent' is determined by the degree the choices and constraints co-vary (as cited in Sukaimi, 2013).
Therefore, in setting elegant tasks, the Art teacher should select problems that are relevant to the experiences of the pupils for them to be able to relate to and to find them worth solving.The elegant problem should also be sufficiently flexible for all educational levels and all categories of pupils to adapt it for their own use (flexibility), will allow many possible, creative and original solutions as it is open-ended (fluency), and should also be studio based (Kay, 1998, p. 281).
It is envisaged that setting such elegant problems will empower the pupils to make choices and meaningful decisions in the ideation and art-making process, will enhance their technical and intellectual growth, and encourage them to discover and explore the attributes and characteristics of the materials in greater depth, thereby leading to other extraordinary forms of the craft (elaboration) (as cited in Sukaimi, 2013, p. 10).An elegant problem will improve the pupils' engagement in the task as it will evoke reflection, decision-making and meaning-making which are processes for deriving original and creative solutions (originality).They will intuitively feel a sense of ownership and pride when the art-making experience is meaningful and satisfying (as cited in Sukaimi, 2013, p. 9).According to Sukaimi (2013), by designing tasks that invite flexibility, fluency, elaboration and originality of responses, the teacher is engaging his/her pupils in the creative thought process.
The way the teacher shapes an elegant task can affect what and how her pupils learn.Kay (1998, p. 331) says, "Visual problems that are challenging and can be solved successfully by diverse learners have more than one answer.This takes practice on the part of a teacher and a willingness to establish criteria and parameters that allow for individualism.Designing elegant problems takes thoughtful practice." Thus, Elegant Task approach is chosen for my research study as it best fits the 2009 Art Syllabus set by MOE.
During the study, pupils were given opportunities to identify visual qualities they see around them during the Tuning-in Activity, arouse their curiosity through guiding questions during the exploration and the discovery stages, and express their inner thoughts, feelings and imagination through different medium during the art-making process.

Different types of learning dimensions in learners
According to Kay (1998), "Elegant Tasks" is grounded in theories which are consistent with other theoretical works.Amongst these are the different types of learning dimensions which affect the pupils' learning of Art.The learning dimensions are categorised as affective, social and cognitive and are elaborated below.
The affective dimension of learning is described in Csikszentmihalyi's "flow construct" motivational theory in which he suggests that learning will be intrinsically motivating when a problem is pitched at an appropriate level of difficulty for the pupil (Kay, 1998).That is, the task set by the Art teacher must be within the pupil's current ability level to handle for it to be appealing to them.If it is beyond or below their ability, then they will experience anxiety or boredom accordingly when handling the task.Learning will occur when the pupils find the task assigned by the Art teacher intrinsically motivating and can handle it (Kay, 1998).
The social dimensions of learning are grounded in Vygotsky's theory of intellectual development.According to Kay (1998), "Vygotsky believed that cognitive development originated from social interaction" before knowledge is internalised and the "capability to learn under a teacher's guidance varies tremendously in children with equal levels of mental development".Vygotsky terms this "area of fluctuation" in developmental level as the "zone of proximal development (ZPD)" and views "good learning" as "that which is in advance of development" (Kay, 1998).Citing Vygotsky, Kay (1998) explained that ZPD is the "distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers".Based on this theory, art tasks must be pitched at a higher level than the students' current level of problem-solving skill (Kay 1998).
The cognitive dimensions of learning are premised on the differences in cognitive development among individuals in artistic problem-solving.Arnheim "suggests that the imagination necessary to engage in artistic problem solving requires abstract thought" (as cited in Kay, 1998).Kay (1998) therefore advocated that Art teachers need to first understand the cognitive processes associated with thinking in art if they are to systematically develop abstract thought in their pupils.According to her, pupils respond to an assignment or problem differently.They used problem-solving strategies which required thinking when handling the assignment or problem.Their choice of problem-solving strategies is influenced by their prior experience and whether the assignment/problem is close-or open-ended in nature (Kay, 1998).That is, the level of the students' expertise in the subject matter affects their perception and interpretations of the assignment/problem and influences the approach they used to perform the assignment or to solve the problem.The higher the level of expertise, the more advanced is the product of their work (Kay, 1998).
In order to design meaningful problems for optimal engagement and learning in pupils, the Art teachers need to know the different types of learning dimensions and set the tasks to be done in Art accordingly.By paying attention to the affective and social dimensions of learning, the Art teacher will empower the pupils to take ownership of their learning while being cognizant of the cognitive dimensions of learning "can enhance the learning of a novice or assist the non-artist's appreciation of the complexity of thought in producing ideas in art" (Kay, 1998).
In summary, I have summarised the above literature review of different types of learning dimensions in learners as follows: Point a: Task must be within the pupil's ability Point b: Opportunity for independent problem solving Point c: Collaboration with more capable peers Point d: Choice of problem-solving strategy

ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE THREE: MY INTERVENTION IN CLASS
The study commenced in May 2013 and ended in September 2013.However, the research project spanned a total of 10 months from conception to completing writing the research report.

Selection of participants
The sample for this research study comprised a class of thirty Primary One pupils, who were seven year-old from a neighbourhood primary school.This class was a multi-ethnic class with mixed-ability and mixed-gender.Table 1 below shows the distribution of pupils by ethnicity, academic grouping and gender.There were thirteen girls and seventeen boys, of whom eight were high-progress pupils, fourteen middle-progress and eight low progress pupils.Primary 1 pupils were selected for this research study as they were fresh from Kindergarten and had not gone through any formal Primary School Art Education yet.There were no previous primary school Art experiences to contaminate their views.

Elegant Task Lessons
Four Unit topics totalling eleven Elegant Task lessons were covered with the pupils who participated in this study.Pupils' safety is very important during Art lessons.I always make sure that my pupils are not allowed to handle sharp objects that would compromise their safety.Teacher's supervision is necessary when pupils are exploring art medium and materials.Group discussions are also added into each unit topic as pupils could also learn from their peers when they talked among themselves in their own language.To conclude each unit topic, I have added in the class presentation segment to create opportunity for pupils to share and talk about their feelings, experiences, thoughts and ideas before, during and after the art-making process.
The eleven Elegant Task lessons were conducted between May 2013 and September 2013.The pupils had the conventional (teacher-centred) Art lessons from January 2013 to April 2013.
Colour Theory was covered over two weeks while the lessons on Drawing from Observation, Fold and Dye and Printmaking took three weeks each to complete.The last two units focused on concepts and skills.The pupils had Art lessons for two half-hour periods per week.All the lessons were conducted in the classroom.For Unit Topic 1, Colour Theory, the data collected from the two lessons were not used for this study as the pupils studied this topic twice, once the conventional way and the second time the Elegant Task way.However, it served as a time for training and hand-holding the pupils to learn Art via Elegant Task since two lessons were used to introduce pupils to Elegant Tasks.
During the three lessons under the Unit Topic 2, Drawing from Observation, the pupils did different art activities.In Lesson 1, they shared what a house meant to them personally, discussed about some unique houses found around the world, played with the building blocks and attempt to build their dream house for the first time.In Lesson 2, they confirmed their designs after several attempts and sketched them in their respective sketch books.In Lesson 3, they coloured their sketches and presented their designs to their group members.Finally, a few pupils were selected by the teacher to present their dream houses to the whole class.
Under Unit Topic 3, Fold and Dye, the art-making activities progressed from simple to complex tasks.During the first lesson, the teacher introduced the Fold and Dye technique.After that, each pupil was given five small pieces of rice paper to explore the technique.They then pasted their completed work in their sketchbook as part of their learning process before sharing their best piece of artwork with their group members in the next lesson.In Lesson 3, the pupils did fold and dye on a desk-size piece of rice paper.By this lesson, each pupil would have decided on how they wanted to fold their paper.When all the students had completed their artwork, they stood in a big circle to appreciate each other's handiwork.A few students who had not presented before were chosen to present their artwork to the whole class.
For the Unit Topic 4 on Printmaking, three lessons were conducted.In Lesson 1, after the teacher had taught the printmaking technique, each group chose one fruit or vegetable to explore four different ways of cutting and printing it.The pupils in each group discussed on how they wanted to cut up the fruit or vegetable.After they had discussed and decided, I would then cut the fruit or vegetable for them as pupils at this age are not allowed to handle a knife.
After each cut, pupils printed the fruit or vegetable on their individual worksheet.At the end of Lesson 1, the pupils pasted their prints in their sketchbook as part of their learning process.They spent their time in Lesson 2 to present their group findings to the whole class.They taught their classmates how to cut the fruit or vegetable to achieve certain unique shape when printed.There was interaction between the group doing the presentation and their classmates seated on the floor.Some pupils even suggested other ways of cutting the fruit or vegetable after the group had presented.In Lesson 3, guided by the Elegant Task, the pupils used the given fruit, vegetables and other textured materials to create their individual print.A few pupils were then selected to present their prints to the whole class towards the end of the lesson.

Data collection and instrumentation
As this research was a qualitative study, data were collected via focus group discussions.Five focus group discussions of six pupils per group were conducted to gather data on their perception of using Elegant Tasks to learn Art and doing artworks.The questions for the focus group discussions were patterned after the six specific questions.They covered the three themes of pupils' reactions to the use of Elegant Tasks to learn Art, what they had learnt in the Elegant Task Art lessons and how the use of the Elegant Task approach helped them to improve their artworks.
As the Primary One pupils were still very young, being only seven years of age, the size of each focus group discussion was kept small to avoid their being easily swayed by the views of their classmates.Also to help them to overcome inhibitions during the discussions, the pupils answered an open-ended questionnaire patterned after the six specific questions prior to the focus group discussions so that they could speak up at the discussion sessions.I was the facilitator for all the focus group discussions and another teacher assisted in note-taking.The focus group discussion sessions were also video recorded.

Data analysis
The qualitative data from the focus group discussions were then compiled based on the three themes identified.The three themes were: the pupils' reactions to the use of Elegant Tasks in art lessons, what the pupils learnt through the Elegant Task Art lessons and ways the Elegant Task Art lessons enabled the pupils to produce better artwork.The three themes were used to narrate the data on the pupils' perceptions on the use of Elegant Task to learn Art.

Question 1 and 2: Pupils' reactions to the use of Elegant Tasks in Art lessons
The pupils' reactions to the use of Elegant Tasks in Art lessons were very positive, favourable and encouraging.To the pupils, the Elegant Task lessons were "exciting", "fun" with "a lot of interesting activities to do", and "cool and amazing".They not only "got to play with their friends when doing art" but they also learn "new things", "a lot of new techniques" and "new skills".They found learning meaningful because they understand the reasons for doing their artworks, and they could do them "creatively" as exemplified by this remark, "No right answers.We can do our own art creatively".Besides providing opportunities for them to play and learn, the use of Elegant Tasks also helped them to improve their art as they could make their artworks better.The pupils were highly motivated by the use of Elegant Tasks to learn Art as seen from these responses of the students: "I can't wait for Thursdays to have art lesson.I am happy when it is Thursday"; "It is better than normal art lesson"; "The lessons are great and I love them all" and "It is exciting, interesting and fun.I look forward to [the] art lesson.Although it is at the last 2 periods but I am not tired at all.I'm excited when [the Art teacher] comes in".
In terms of the four Unit lessons, the most popular lesson with the pupils was Fold and Dye.In their words, it was "fun", "exciting" and "interesting".The pupils liked different parts of the Fold and Dye lessons.Some like the painting, some like the dyeing and others like the folding and opening of the rice paper.The painting and dyeing appealed to the pupils because they liked painting and creating different designs and patterns.The opening of the rice paper was thrilling for the pupils as they excitedly anticipated seeing the patterns they had created.The pupils also strongly approved the use of Elegant Tasks to teach Art.Personally, they wanted more lessons using elegant tasks.In the words of one pupil which was echoed by many of his/her classmates, "I want every art lesson to be Elegant Task.It is so fun".Eleven Art lessons using Elegant Tasks were not sufficient for them.They wanted more of such lessons.Besides thinking of themselves, they also wanted all the Primary One classes to have the opportunity to learn Art using Elegant Tasks.As several pupils recommended: "Every P1 class should have Elegant Task.It is very good"; "All P1 classes should use Elegant Task because it is fun" and "All classes should have Elegant Task.It is very good".Their reactions to the Elegant Task Art lessons were so positive that they had nothing to suggest for improving the lessons.

Question 3 and 4: What the pupils learnt through the Elegant Task Art lessons
Through the Elegant Task Art lessons, the pupils acquired artistic skills.They learnt to mix primary colours to get secondary colours, to draw the side views of the building blocks to make their house look more 3 dimensional, to create their own repeated patterns and paint them on the rice paper and to print the same fruit or vegetables in many different ways after exploring and experimenting with their group members.In the course of art making, some of them also made other discoveries to their delight and amazement.They explored and discovered for themselves on how to paint repeated objects instead of just creating patterns and that everyday objects found around them could also be used for printing and making beautiful artworks.For example, one of the pupils painted a quarter of a butterfly and when she opened the rice paper, to everyone's pleasant surprise, there was a complete butterfly on the paper.They also learnt how to draw a portrait and make a card (eg., "I learnt to make a Mothers' Day card for my mother.I feel proud."), to fold papers creatively and to dye, and to wait until the rice papers were dry before opening them so that they would not be torn, to stack up six blocks to make a dream house and "to look at things carefully before drawing".
In addition to acquiring the art-making techniques during the Elegant Task Art lessons, the pupils also learnt soft skills such as teamwork skills, interpersonal skills, and presentation skills.For teamwork they had learnt, they shared: • "I learnt to cooperate with my friends during group work.We helped each other and cleaned up together." • "I learnt to share things with my group members.We must take turn to use the brushes." • "I learnt to wait for my turn patiently." • "I learnt to do my part during group work.For example, I laid out the newspapers on the tables.I put the art materials in the middle to share with my friends."• "I learnt how to work with my friends.I share materials with them and also help them when they are in trouble." Examples of interpersonal skills which the pupils said that they had learnt include "be nice to my friends", "help them when they need help" or "are in trouble", "listen when others are talking", "help each other and cleaned up together" and take responsibility for mistakes, for example, "I accidentally dropped a drop of paint onto my friend's pencil case.I quickly took out my handkerchief, wet it and wipe the paint off.Luckily, my friend was not angry with me." and "I accidentally topple a container of batik dye.I … clean the tables and mop the floor myself".
In terms of presentation skills, one pupil said: "I can stand in front of my class and talk about my artwork.I know what to say and I say it loudly.Last time, I'm very scared and very shy.After doing in my group a few times, I can now talk in front of my class".
The pupils also develop characteristics that were related to the 21 st century competencies.They learnt to persevere, to problem-solve "creatively", "to face fear", to be "more willing to try new things during art lessons", to focus when doing art and not to be distracted easily and to concentrate when doing art instead of talking to friends.One student said, "I learnt how to solve problems myself.For example, when dyeing the rice paper, I cannot get the right colour I want, so I keep trying by mixing two colours until I get it".Another pupil added, "I learnt to face my fear.When I have fear of doing things, I tell myself to be brave and try it.Now, I'm more willing to try new things during art lessons".They took ownership of their learning.
Question 5 and 6: Ways the Elegant Task lessons enabled pupils to produce better artwork According to the pupils, their artwork had improved compared to the beginning of the year.One area which they indicated that had improved is drawing.From their perspective, their drawing now had "improved a lot", was " nicer", "more interesting" and "better", and "look more real".Not only were they able to produce better artwork, they also picked up skills and developed better habits and quality.They could "draw more shapes" and "hold the pencil properly".They also practised "drawing more often at home" and during "free time" and had more patience now when drawing, thus showing their ability to self-direct their own learning.
Besides drawing, they improved their painting and colouring as well.Their painting was "nicer" because they could "control the brush well", "paint within the line", paint and colour "without white spaces", and "paint in one direction".

ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE FIVE: MY REFLECTION AND PERSONAL LEARNING
The results of this study showed that the Elegant Task Art lessons were well-received by the Primary One pupils.They enjoyed the Art lessons because it was more meaningful, interesting, fun and exciting than past Art lessons.They also benefited from the exposure to Elegant Tasks both in terms of artistic skills and personal development.They viewed their artworks with pride.They were so motivated and inspired by the Elegant Task approach to learning Art that they did extra practice of artwork at home and during free time and they wanted more of such lessons not only for themselves but also for other Primary One pupils.These findings support Sukaimi's (2013) point that "when the art-making experience is meaningful and satisfying, students will intuitively feel a sense of ownership and pride".The use of Elegant Tasks to teach Art seemed to have fulfilled the principles of "learnercentered", "process-oriented", "contextualised", "interactive", "initiative-related" and "fun" as articulated in the 2009 Art Syllabus (MOE, 2008).I had also observed some positive impact on the pupils' learning after using Elegant Tasks in the Art lessons.Firstly, I noticed that most of the pupils were able to think independently and critically to explore and generate new ideas during the group discussion and collaboration stage.When guided by me, they were able to expand and develop their ideas further, and completed their final artwork independently and confidently.Secondly, the pupils were also able to communicate effectively with me and their peers during the group presentation and class presentation.Thirdly, they were more outspoken and asked questions when they were in doubt and following clarification, they would reflect on their own actions during the art-making process and persevere till they completed the tasks.Fourthly, the pupils were able to work effectively in groups.Good teamwork not only promoted a deeper level of learning among the peers but also, learning to talk with and to listen to one another were important skills that pupils had acquired along the way.Lastly, they took responsibility for their own learning as all of them had completed and handed in their final individual artwork for all art lessons.These informal observations by me verified the perceptions of the pupils that they had grown cognitively, affectively and socially through the Elegant Tasks Art lessons.
The notion of Elegant Task only provides a framework or a structure for me to work on.Ultimately, I have to decide what makes it alive and works in my class by knowing my pupils well before planning the lessons.Therefore, my selection of topic and the design of the lesson plans in this research study are not a do-this-and-do-that lesson.They are based on three points of simplicity, involvement, and achievement.They are intended to amuse the pupils into developing an awareness of his or her own-style of thinking, its strong points and its weakness.One pupil may get blocked at a certain point.Another pupil may never make use of certain strategies.Awareness is the first step to correction and improvement in any skill -this is the essence of my lesson plans.In fact, the only effort required from a pupil is that he or she should ask himself or herself the question:" Why am I having difficulty over this?" during the art lessons.I did observe some limitations during the course of teaching arts.This study was carried out over one term, from July to September.A few lessons were disrupted due to public holidays and closure of school due to National Examination.Thus, I could not carry out the full lesson in each unit as planned.I had to borrow periods from other subject teachers to make up for the lost time.As the period for implementing the Elegant Task Art lessons was short, with only four Unit Lessons, it was not possible to see its full impact.
In addition, this research project is a very small scale study.The data collected may not be credible due to the small sample size.Time did not permit the use of other methods of data collection so that the additional data source(s) could be used for triangulation.Consequently, there were no other data sources to validate the findings of this study.Furthermore, no similar previous research studies were done in this area.Consequently it was also not possible to validate the findings of this study with the findings of other similar research.
In view of the above limitations, it is recommended that this study be replicated in future with modifications to the design to avoid the pitfalls/gaps of this study.The sample size should be increased and the duration of the study lengthened to better determine the effect of the Elegant Task approach.It is also recommended that the timing of the project be changed to the beginning of the year so that there would be sufficient time to implement the Elegant Task Art lessons to assess their impact.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the pupils' perceptions on the use of Elegant Tasks in Art were favourable and promising.The eleven Elegant Task lessons benefited the pupils by developing them artistically, socially and affectively.In fact, Hase and Kenyon (2007), hase and Tay (2004), and Tay andHase (2004, 2010) make a distinction between knowledge and skill acquisition and that of learning.Knowledge and skills or competencies can be acquired and even reproduced.But, this is not learning at a deeper cognitive level.Learning is an integrative experience where a change in behaviour, knowledge, or understanding is incorporative into a pupil's existing repertoire of behaviour and schema (values, attitudes and beliefs).For example, it is possible to acquire a set of competencies that one can repeat in familiar or known circumstances.However, if learning has taken place, competencies can also be repeated and even adapted in unfamiliar, unanticipated situations.After using this pupil-centred approach to conduct my study, I also realised that the benefits outweighed the traditional teacher-centred approach to teach Art.Looking forward, I will be switching to this new approach to teach art without looking back.I strongly believe that this is the right way forward in teaching Art and would strongly recommend it to all Art teachers.~ Pupils to tear the yellow, red and blue tissue paper into small pieces and stick them onto the drawing paper using water only.

APPENDIX A Lesson Plan -Colour Theory
~For every big piece of tissue paper pasted onto the drawing paper, pupils must paste another smaller piece of different coloured tissue paper onto the middle of the bigger piece.
~Repeat the whole process until the A4-sized drawing paper is fully covered with the tissue paper.
~The colour on the Art tissue paper will run when it is wet.Thus staining the drawing paper under it.
~ This technique will create an interesting background for their Mothers' Day cards and at the same time, pupils will also discover that when the yellow, red and blue colours run from the tissue paper, two of them will combine together to create another new colour (called the Secondary colours).The new colours will be absorbed onto the drawing paper underneath it.
~ After drying under the fan, peel and throw away the dried tissue paper.
~ Pupils will be thrilled and fascinated to see the colourful printed patterns on their drawing paper plus three new colours.
~ Get pupils to think about how the three new colours could have been    3 big Coke bottles filled with water  1 bottle of yellow food colouring  1 bottle of red food colouring  1 bottle of blue food colouring ~ Pick 3 volunteers.Each volunteer to choose two Primary Colours and add a few drops of each colour into a Coke bottle.As the food colouring flows down and spreads out throughout the whole bottle, pupils can witness the 2 Primary colours blending together to become 1 new colour.It will be an amazing visual feast for the pupils to witness this transformation right before their eyes.
~ Students to go back behind their desk to pen down 2 learning points for the day and 1 area in which they would like to explore further in their art journals.(Point d)

Suggestion for Follow-up Activity
Pupils can create a pin-wheel using all the 6 colours from the Primary and Secondary groups.Pupils to attach the completed pin wheel onto a straw using a round head paper fastener and have fun playing with their pin wheels during recess.When their pin wheels turn, pupils will see that all the 6 colours combine together to become white colour.

Content/ Background
Pupils already have some knowledge about Primary and Secondary Colours.

Specific Learning Outcomes
1. (Seeing) Pupils will see that art is fun as they make their pin wheel using paper, fastener and straw.2. (Expressing) Pupils will colour their pin wheel using Primary and Secondary colours only.

(Appreciating) Pupils will learn collaboratively and evaluate what
they have discovered among their peers after playing with their pin wheels.
2. (Expressing) Students will capture the structure onto paper with 3 dimensional perspective drawing.

(Appreciating) Students will learn collaboratively and evaluate what they
have discovered among their assigned groups.Introduce pupils to the Elegant Task. You have a piece of land.You want to design and build a house for you and your family to live happily in.Create your house using the building blocks and sketch it onto the sketch book using pencil and colour it with coloured pencils.Consider each family member's likes and dislikes and build a house to surprise them.Show pupils the building blocks and demonstrate how to stack them to form a simple structure.
Get pupils to think about how they want to design their own house that is special to them and everyone living in it will be happy.Provide sufficient scaffolding for pupils to begin their creation.
 Have you played with building blocks before? How do you stack them to create a building? Think about the kind of house you and your family members would like to live in. Remember to keep in mind their likes and dislikes when you design your dream house.

Main Activity: Individual Work:
Provide each pupil with 5 or 6 building blocks.Pupils will manipulate the building blocks to build a house which is suitable for their family and then capture it in their sketchbook (drawing from observation).
Teacher to walk around to provide help when necessary.Teacher to ask guiding questions to encourage pupils to draw their structure with side views (3 dimensional).
 What can you add to the side to make your house look exactly like the building blocks structure?Think.

Individual Work:
Pupils to continue with their sketching and colouring.For those who have finished, they will improve on their sketch or colouring while waiting for the rest to finish.
Teacher to walk around to provide help when necessary.
Teacher to ask guiding questions to encourage pupils to draw their structure with side views (3 dimensional).
Give pupils some room to do selfdiscovery learning and exploration.In groups of 4, pupils to take turn to comment on their friend's work before presentation by each group member.Pupils may present their work using the following guiding questions.
~ What is so special about their house?~ Why did they design their house this way?~ How did they draw their house on their sketchbook?In groups of 4, pupils can create an imagery playground together using the building blocks and sketch out the structure on a piece of drawing paper separately.Every pupil will have a different view of the structure as they sit around the structure in their groups.After sketching, combine the 4 sketches together to form a 360 degree view of their playground.

Pupils
Teacher to display the group sketches in class and do a gallery walk.

Content/ Backgrou nd
Students already had some knowledge on elements of art like lines and shapes.Pupils to continue with their previous's week artwork.

Specific
Teacher to walk around to provide help when necessary.
Teacher to ask guiding questions to encourage pupils to explore more ways of folding the rice paper and the application of dyes on their paper.
Once pupils have completed, they will paste all their creations into their journal and present their best creation to their group members.Teacher to walk around to facilitate discussion.
Give pupils some room to do self-discovery learning and exploration.
Pupils Each group will be given about 10 minutes to present their findings and group prints.
Each group must present at least 4 different ways of printing the fruit or vegetable and 1 or 2 ways of printing the other materials.They will also share how they achieve their end results + any new discoveries + 1 accidental EFFECT (if any) that they have discovered along the way.
Pupils Get pupils to think and decide how they want to create their own print using the given materials.

Individual Work:
Pupils are given some time to try out their friends' recommendations to encourage collaborative learning.After the group presentation in week 1, pupils would have experience at least 3 -4 ways of using the given materials.
Pupils will then proceed to produce their own print.They may use the materials provided or create/look for their own materials (either within or outside the classroom) to create their desired print.
Give pupils some room to do selfdiscovery learning and exploration.

Week 3 15 min
Closure: Art discussion: ~ Teacher to display pupils' prints on the whiteboard while pupils sit on the floor.
~ Teacher to highlight a few prints for class discussion.Pupils to buzz about the selected prints and talk about the lines, patterns ,textures, colours and feeling of these prints.
~Teacher to call a few volunteers to come to the front to present their prints to the whole class.
~ Teacher to ask guiding questions to elicit responses from the pupils about their discoveries on achieving the print.

~ Teacher to consolidate what pupils
To consolidate learning and reflect on their actions.Pupils to write down 2 learning points for the day and 1 area in which they would like to explore further, select a few pupils to share.

Suggestion for Follow-up Activity
Pupils can create teachers' cards using the printmaking technique.They may explore the abstract theme such as 'Explosion of Colours' They can look for objects with unique textures for their prints.(e.g.leaves, plastic bag, twigs, personal objects, etc.) Elements like colours and textures are emphasised in this activity.Pupils can learn to gather these objects in groups and share their discoveries among members.Pupils will give their cards to their teachers on Teachers' Day.

Content/ Backgroun d
Pupils already had some knowledge on elements of art like lines, shapes, textures and colours.

Learning Outcomes
1. (Seeing) Pupils will see that there are many ways to create interesting lines, shapes and textures using various materials.

(Expressing
These Unit topics were (a) Colour Theory, (b) Drawing from Observation, (c) Fold and Dye and (d) Printmaking.Please refer to Appendices A to D for the detailed lesson plans.I have used the Colour Theory lesson plan (Appendix A) as an example on how I have linked the Literature Review into my lesson plan by incorporating the Pointers (a, b, c and d) as highlighted in this AR Cycle 2. In addition, I have also added three new pointers here as my own initiative to value-add and to enhance my pupils' engagement in the art lessons.The three new pointers are: Point e: Pupils' safety Point f: Group discussion Point g: Class presentation These feelings are summarized by a pupil when he said: "I like the Fold & Dye because it is interesting.I like the opening part because it is exciting to see what the final artwork look like.When I'm painting the patterns, I don't know how it will look like until I open it."The least popular topic was Drawing from Observation.The two pupils who voted for this topic liked to draw and colour.

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Pupils to sit on the floor with their artwork.~ Teachers to pick three volunteers to present their artworks to the whole class.(Point g) ~ Teacher to ask guiding questions to elicit responses from the pupils about their discoveries on achieving the three new colours accidentally on their drawing paper.~ Teacher to consolidate what pupils have shared and presented and write on the whiteboard, red + blue = purple, yellow + blue = green, and yellow + red = orange.~ Teacher to introduce the term 'Secondary Colours' to categorise these 3 new colours, green, orange and purple and add in these 3 colours onto the triangle diagram on the whiteboard to complete the Colour Theory.
Identify simple visual qualities in what they see around them 2. Be curious about what they see 3. Share their imagination, thoughts and feelings through art making 4. Wide use of art materials and medium 5. Enjoy looking at and creating art 6. Talk about what they see and experience(MOE, 2008, p 5)

Table 2 : Table Showing the Four Elegant Task Art Lessons
Table 2 below shows the number of lessons, what the teacher did, what the pupils learnt and the Elegant Tasks by Unit topic.

Point a, b, f and g)
(Point a, b, c, d, f and g)You have a piece of land.You want to design and build a house for you and your family to live happily in.Create your house using six building blocks and sketch it onto the sketch book using pencil.Colour it with coloured pencils.Consider each family members' likes and dislikes and build a house to surprise them.(Point a, b, c, d, f and g) Day is coming!You want to design a very special Mothers' Day card for your mother.Draw a portrait of your mother on the card and outline it with black permanent marker.Cover the whole card with yellow, red and blue coloured tissue paper.Use only water and brush to paste the tissue paper on the card.Give the completed card to your mother to surprise her on Mothers' Day.
 A4-sized Card  Black Permanent Marker  Yellow, Red and Blue tissue paper  Brush

for Follow-up Activity Week 4:
, pupils will explore new ways of folding a T-shirt and dying it.At the end of the lesson, pupils to put on their T-shirt and have a fashion parade in class.They are allowed to pose/walk creatively to best showcase their new creation.
You have spent almost a year now in Ngee Ann Primary School since you left kindergarten.Imagine that next year, you will buddy a new batch of Primary 1 pupils!What would you say to your new buddy about the best moment/event you had in Ngee Ann Primary School since January this year?Capture this memorable moment/event using the Ink your object with water-proof paint using a brush and print it by hand-pressure.You may also use other objects found around you.Be creative and have fun!  Remarks have shared and highlight the element of art -texture.Show Powerpoint slides of different types of texture and the unique print these textures can create.~ Pupils can brainstorm about what other materials with special textures they can use to create more interesting/unusual prints.