Denis Garcia Reyes and Michelle Udeli share how the Transformative Learning Seminar (TLS) reshaped their approach to design, education, and leadership. From reimagining student mindsets to reinventing capstone projects, both educators now center unspoken needs and real-time reflection in their work. Their stories highlight how TLS fosters a mindset of inquiry, empathy, and experimentation—turning everyday challenges into opportunities for creative change.
How has the TLS experience inspired your work or the way you think about your work?
“TLS impacted how I think about my work greatly. Now, I utilize design thinking in every aspect of my work by questioning what is the need, and how can I address that need through the creation of tangible tools.” - Denis
“TLS has been absolutely amazing for my work and understanding as an educator. Through my experience, I've learned to not take things/processes/lessons at face value, and look for unarticulated needs to enhance my work and educate my students. I can proudly say that after TLS, I feel proud to call myself a designer and love immersing myself in design-related curriculum!” - Michelle
What experiments have you tried, after TLS?
“The approach that I took for the (first) community meeting was specifically focused on our first-year cohort considering they are our largest cohort. The first community meeting topic was focused on the importance of having a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset. Often, when this topic is taught, what's missed is the process of looking inward. Therefore, I incorporated a noticing activity, a Hopes & Fears Activity, that allowed Scholars to see themselves in their peers' experiences while also offering an opportunity for self-reflection. This activity allowed students to identify how fears (aka Fixed Mindsets) can be a hindrance. This activity helped the students take their fear (aka a fixed mindset) and turn it into a hope (aka a growth mindset) in real time. At the end of this activity, the students reported back that they liked the activity, and they were glad to know that they were not alone.” - Denis
“I was able to revamp the Senior level capstone project to have the Scholars serve as consultants for prominent U.S. companies, and this year, we've implemented a new noticing and sensemaking activity where the Capstone Scholars are being asked to identify latent and articulated needs, through real-time user data, collected from the popular form site, Reddit. These Scholars will then be asked to redesign a current product or process currently in use or developed by the company. At the end of the academic year, they will have the opportunity to meet with their "clients" (aka design aficionados) to experiment and prototype their final design.” - Michelle
