Thomas Coleman

EE 494

General Education Reflection

In order to obtain a degree at Iowa State University, many kinds of classes are required.

One of the categories of courses are general education electives. When I first began to take these

courses, I did not necessarily understand the significance relating to becoming an electrical

engineer. However, as I have matured over my tenure here, I have come to understand why they

are required and how they have helped me grow as both an individual and a team player. These

classes forced me to get outside of my personal comfort zone by immersing me with students

from all different backgrounds and majors. In doing this, I believe I learned many valuable

lessons that I can take with me after leaving Iowa State.

Upon showing up here in April 2017, I enrolled in the subsequent summer semester.

Since some of the classes I wanted to take pertaining to my major were not available during this

semester, I decided to enroll in a general education course. The class I chose was LD ST 322:

Leadership Styles and Strategies in a Diverse Society. Taught by Dr. Manning-Ouellette, she

guided us through different topics ranging from the history of leadership to understanding

personal identities and how our identities affect the group dynamic. Taking this course gave me a

better understanding on how my identities and my behavior affect the people I work with and

how to best deal with working in a diverse community. Being more conscious of my actions

when in these group settings will help me become a better contributor and be able to relate and

communicate with other engineers.

 In the next summer, I elected to take RUS 375: Russia Today. This class focused on how

Russia came to be from the fall of USSR and how their country’s actions, both nationally and

internationally, affect our lives. Before taking this class, I did not know much about Russia or

their politics beyond the surface. I always had an interest in learning about other countries and

how their political environment differs from our own; and I believed Russia was a good

candidate given their world prominence and the struggle of our alliance. I learned about the

history before Russia, specifically starting with the rise of the USSR. Reading about multiple

time periods of this country, I was able to gain a better understanding of where Russian citizens

came from. We also read and watched videos about other areas of Russia such as Chernobyl,

oppression in areas that are made to publicly look like paradise centers, and suppression of free

speech through imprisonment and murder. While we touched on a myriad of issues over the last

century of their history, I was able to firmly grasp how the perception of Russia is very different

than what it is. The citizens of this country have the same basic wants and needs as our own, and

I believe that is important when trying to analyze and understand a culture. Gaining this

knowledge, I have a better understanding of a culture other than my own and how my

interactions with people can seem very much different than my intentions were. Another lesson

learned from this class is an understanding of international politics. Seeing how Russia’s

interaction affects everyone around them made me take an objective look at our own country’s

interaction and how profound of an impact it can have on the world stage.

In my final summer semester, I took Economics 101: Principles of Microeconomics. I

had a required course on economics (IE 305: Engineering Economic Analysis) before this but

wanted to see a more basic approach to the economy. This class allowed me to do that plus much

more. I was able to see how the interactions between producers and consumers affected the
overall market. I was also able to see that the majority of the time, these two groups will come to

the optimal outcome for both parties without outside intervention solely based upon supply and

demand. This allowed me to understand how these basic principles apply to different types of

markets. Specifically, I was able to apply this to electricity markets where in the near future, the

consumer will have more choices with electricity supply both in self-generation in the case of

personal solar panels and choosing when to use electricity based upon real-time price updates.

Currently, I am taking NS 220: Leadership and Management. The focus from this class is

more of general leadership and how to apply it to my everyday life. So far, I have learned that

leadership is neither an innate trait nor something that can be mastered easily. It is more

something that takes many hours of observation, both personal and of other people, and

reflection on experiences to become a better leader. Using what I have observed and learned in

my own life can help in leadership by trying to impart my lessons on other people so they might

be able to relate them to their own perspectives and gain insight from other views. I also learned

how the group makeup determines what style of leadership I should use. Understanding the

people I am working with and choosing the best leadership approach will help improve the

overall group dynamic and make us more efficient in accomplishing our goals. These lessons

will be especially helpful going forward as I will begin to take on more of a group role and

eventually one as a leader after departing college.

Finally, I will be taking NS 412: Leadership and Ethics. This class will take a more in-

depth look at leadership as well as case studies concerning ethical dilemmas. Ethics is a topic

that will continue to be discussed due to its importance in the professional workplace. Being able

to understand ethical dilemmas and how these situations should have been handled will give me

a better approach to dealing with ethical issues in the workplace. Studying ethics in this scale
also has the benefit of being able to apply it elsewhere. One outcome of this class I am hoping to

achieve is relating these ethical lessons to the power generation field and how it relates to

generating power and its adverse effect on our environment. This is an ethical dilemma which

will exist for the foreseeable future and I hope to be able to use my knowledge to aid in solving

it.

General education may seem like a burden to some, but in reality it is what helps develop

the backbone of our education. By gaining perspective of people outside of our professional field

and also learning more about cultures and world dynamics, us as engineers can better understand

the problems we are facing and how to best come up with their solutions so they may be

beneficial and long-lasting. Knowing how to interact with each other and lead our peers can help

us realize and achieve those solutions in a way that helps everyone benefit from them. Also,

learning from controversies and the ethical shortcomings of our predecessors will help guide us

in making decisions that take everyone’s perspective into account to come up with the best

outcome.