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General Education Reflection

Andres Ceballos reflected on three general education elective courses he took at Iowa State University. The first course was ENV S 324 Energy and the Environment, which covered topics like the environmental impacts of energy production and consumption. Ceballos was particularly interested in renewable energy. The second course was History 221 Survey of United States History I, which covered US history from colonial times to the Civil War. This helped Ceballos understand the global impact of the industrial revolution. The third course was AF AM 330 Ethnic and Race Relations, which analyzed race relations in the US and hardships faced by different ethnic groups. Ceballos felt these courses gave him new perspectives and helped him consider broader impacts of engineering projects.

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33 views2 pages

General Education Reflection

Andres Ceballos reflected on three general education elective courses he took at Iowa State University. The first course was ENV S 324 Energy and the Environment, which covered topics like the environmental impacts of energy production and consumption. Ceballos was particularly interested in renewable energy. The second course was History 221 Survey of United States History I, which covered US history from colonial times to the Civil War. This helped Ceballos understand the global impact of the industrial revolution. The third course was AF AM 330 Ethnic and Race Relations, which analyzed race relations in the US and hardships faced by different ethnic groups. Ceballos felt these courses gave him new perspectives and helped him consider broader impacts of engineering projects.

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Andres Ceballos

General Education Electives Reflection (envs 324, hist 221, afam330

In addition to all the interesting engineering classes I have been able to take, I also had
the pleasure of taking general education electives courses that allowed me to open my eyes to
different perspectives. They have allowed me to see the bigger picture when it comes to solving
problems.

One of the courses that I took was Energy and the Environment 324 (ENV S 324). This
course covered the origin of Earth’s energy resources and the environmental and climatic impacts
of energy acquisition and consumption. I originally took this class without knowing the types of
things that we would go over, it just sounded interesting to me. It was a great course and I feel
that my biggest takeaways were making me realize just how much goes into energy acquisition
and consumption. We learned about how water quality can be affected through different types of
mining, habitat destruction in order to meet the needs of the world, and the advancement of
energy systems and how reliable they are. I was really interested in the renewable energy part of
the course and learning about the different options that we have when it comes to renewable
energy. As we begin to stray away from non-renewable energy, we must understand the capacity
of renewable energy and if it is really reasonable to believe that it can provide for all our needs.
The exams and homework in this course really tested our knowledge of the material that was
taught. There was also a research assignment that allowed us to take a stance on an issue and
back it up with evidence from different scholarly articles. This course ended up being one of my
favorite courses that I took at Iowa State and allowed me to understand the impacts that
engineering projects have on the environment and how we as engineers can go about reducing
these environmental impacts.

Another course that I was able to take was Survey of United States History I (History
221). This course covers the very beginning of United States history starting with the colonial
foundations up to the Civil War. I chose to take this course because I am interested in history and
wanted to retain some of what I learned in my AP United States History class in high school.
This course was a hybrid which means we met both in person and online. The online section of
the course was done at your own pace and timing. The course went into great detail of multiple
important periods of time in United States History such as the revolution, constitutional
ratification, slavery and the south, and industrial revolutions. Our only assignments in this class
were five essays that had to do with a specific time period and would require you to answer a
question on a topic in the time period and provide evidence. This class allowed me to recognize
the global impact that the industrial revolution had and how this event has allowed for the better
quality of life for many people.
The last general elective course that I took was Ethnic and Race Relations 330 (AF AM
330). The purpose of this course was to understand and analyze the ethnic and race relations in
the United States, with an emphasis on the psychology and sociology of race and ethnic
relations. This course was split up into five sections that covered the nature of ethnic relations,
ethnicities in the United States, contemporary issues and the changing face of America,
comparative race relations, and a critical autobiography. We were able to learn a lot about the
hardships that different ethnicities in the United States have faced and the way that ethnicities
interact with each other. What I learned in this class actually allowed me to understand how
engineering projects could have an impact on different groups of people and their cultures both
good and bad.

Overall, these general elective courses have allowed me to see different perspectives and
have related to different aspects of engineering that I may have not considered if I did not take
these courses. Being able to see beyond engineering is a skill that I have been able to develop
through the teachings of these general education electives.

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