Steam Pyramid
Steam Pyramid
Steam Pyramid
STEAM is a new framework of subjects which has been evolving to support a new educational
theory.
STEAM is based on STEM education, which can be defined in two ways:
1. the more traditional way, I like to write as S-T-E-M education, as it is the individual ‘silo’
fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. Each has evolved to
formally include elements of the others within their own standards and practices.
2. the newer trend is the concept of integrated STEM education. It includes the teaching and
learning practices when the subjects are purposefully integrated. When taught, one field may be
the dominant base field, or all may be blended unilaterally.
Commonalities
While studying the common factors of teaching and learning across the disciplines
of S-T-E-M, I
found it hard to not include the influences of the arts disciplines. I started thinking
of how to develop
an educational framework that could formally link the study of the hard sciences to
that of the
divisions of the arts. This investigation led me into a deeper study of each of the
main subject areas
with the hope that I would be able to classify the finer educational divisions within
each silo.
The following classifications are the result of that investigation:
• Science Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Geosciences, Inquiry, Physics and Space
(mixed) Biotechnology & Biomedical
• Technology Agricultural, Construction, Communication, Information, Manufacturing,
Medical, Power & Energy, Production and Transportation
• Engineering Aerospace, Agricultural, Architectural, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical,
Environmental, Fluid, Industrial & Systems, Materials, Mechanical, Naval and
Ocean
• Mathematics Algebra, Calculus, Communication, Data Analysis & Probability, Geometry,
Numbers & Operations, Problem Solving, Reason & Proof, Theory and
Trigonometry
• Arts Fine, Language & Liberal, Motor and Physical (including; Education, History,
Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Sociology, Theology & more…)
• I continued my search by reviewing how each of these divisions are linked to each other and the
fields of the arts in both practice and study. I delved farther into the fields of the social, fine, manual,
physical and liberal arts to understand how they expand outwards to influence and be influenced by the
studies and practices of the hard science
Framework - STEAM Pyramid
From all of these investigations, I created the following diagram in
order to establish a framework
for giving structure to and analyzing the interactive nature of both the
practice and study of the formal
fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and the arts