General Education Reflection

Westin Chamberlain
Although the engineering courses offered at Iowa State University are what my degree was
focused on, I decided to branch out and take general education courses that were not directly
related to my major. The first course that I took was Religion 205 which talked about many
different religions around the world, their historical significance, and their modern culture. The
second course that I took was Music 304 which was about the history of Rock ‘n’ Roll and
discussed how music changed and developed in America throughout the decades and some
historical significance that it had on culture. Taking these courses made me more conscious of
areas that I had not been exposed to in engineering and was focused on a different type of
learning than my classes I was used to. It taught me important perspectives and skills that helped
me utilize even in my engineering courses.
Religion 205 was a class that I took in my sophomore year, and I decided to take it to meet an
international perspectives requirement on my course schedule. The class was taught by Dr.
George Archer and our class went through many modern religions like Buddhism, Hinduism,
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to name a few and covered the history of each and their modern
cultures today. The nature of the class was conversational which is something that I had not
experienced to that point, it was focused on discussion and different perspectives from the
students about what happened and different interpretations. Having a class that covered
material that was personal to many of the people in the class without any bias while being able
to discuss it was something that I enjoyed about the class. It encouraged me to talk to the
professor about the material being learned and possible further learning that could be done. This
deconstructed my preconceived notions about what a college course was supposed to be as well
as the interactions between student and teacher did not always need to be formal. Bringing
these things that I had learned back to my engineering courses, it allowed me to acknowledge
that there are different stakeholders even in engineering situations, and each perspective should
be handled with respect. It is important to listen and consider all peoples’ thoughts and feelings
throughout the process. Taking these things into consideration builds a better product for social
and global contexts. It also taught me to ask questions about material that I am interested in,
and professors are available to talk after class and answer questions that extend beyond the
lecture material. This skill practices open communication which can help on an engineering
project to be more receptive and informed when addressing a client's ask.

Music 304 was a class that I took in my senior year and after Religion 205 I had decided I wanted
to branch out again. This class was taught by Dr. Gregory Oakes and covered the history of Rock
‘n’ Roll through the 1950s to modern times. One of the main skills that was emphasized in the
class was to take time and listen to the music as opposed to being concerned with a grade or
distractions. At first, I was convinced that setting aside 30 minutes to an hour of time to listen to
songs for the class would be no trouble at all, however I did not realize how much of my time
was spent trying to multitask and that my ability to focus needed work. Starting off, it was
difficult to even go through 4 or 5 songs without checking a notification on a phone or navigating
to something else on the computer. It taught me that focusing and being attentive to the task at
hand were harder and should not be something that I just assumed I was capable of. Throughout
the semester it was easier, and I found that I enjoyed some of the songs that I was exposed to
and appreciated them when I was listening to what was going on as opposed to them playing in
the background while I was doing something else. Relating it back to engineering classes, focus is
a large part of building a project and especially for a job, it is essential to be able to dedicate
complete focus and attention to a task at hand. It is the professional responsibility of an engineer
to dedicate their full attention to a client or task at hand and Music 304 helped me hone that
skill better.

General education electives are something that I recommend every engineer takes for the
valuable perspective it provides on the different classes and majors it offers in addition to the
possibility that they will find an interest beyond their major. General education also provided me
with skills such as more conscientiousness around possible social and global perspectives and
increased ability to focus and be attentive. It has also sparked an interest in me personally to
seek out information that I would not otherwise consider and take time to explore learning that
does not directly relate to my major or career. I am grateful to have received the opportunity to
explore different types of learning and it affected my path at Iowa State.