The document discusses Peter Senge's five disciplines of a learning organization which are systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, and team learning. It then provides examples of how three educational projects relate to these five disciplines. Specifically, it discusses how a UDL fluency project, constructing Google Cardboard virtual reality headsets, and a flipped MakerSpace relate to and exemplify the five disciplines in terms of shared vision, mental models, personal mastery, team learning, and systems thinking. The document concludes that these educational theories can help teachers clarify goals for themselves and students to allow overcoming obstacles and growth.

1. The Fifth Discipline
Jennifer Serviss
EDTC 625
August 21, 2014

2. Introduction
Peter Senge believes that there are five new component
technologies are gradually converging in innovate
learning organizations. Each provides a vital dimension
in building organizations that can truly learn that can
continually enhance their capacity to realize their
highest aspirations (Senge, 1990).
 Systems Thinking
 Personally Mastery
 Mental Models
 Building Shared vision
 Team Learning

3. The Five Disciplines
Shared Vision: A shared vision is what you and the other members want to create or
accomplish as part of the organization. A shared vision is not imposed by one or a few
people as an organizational mandate.
Mental Models: Ideas that individuals have deeply ingrained in assumptions,
generalizations, that influence how we understand the world and how we take
action.
Personal Mastery: Personal mastery is the discipline of continually clarifying and
deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and
of seeing reality objectively
Team Learning: Team learning focuses on the abilities of a group working together. It
involves the interaction of people learning from each other as well as from the task at
hand.
Systems Thinking: Systems thinking utilizes habits, tools and concepts to develop an
understanding of the interdependent structures of dynamic systems (Senge, 1990).

4. UDL

5. UDL and Shared Vision
UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals,
methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone-
-not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible
approaches that can be customized and adjusted for
individual needs.
The researcher for this project utilized UDL for the purpose of
having students improve on their fluency by creating a voice
thread with the use of an application. The shared vision for
this project would be student growth and improvement.
Utilizing a different approach opposed to having students
read out loud and not hearing how and what they have read.

6. UDL and Mental Models
Education should help turn novice learners into expert
learners—individuals who want to learn, who know
how to learn strategically, and who, in their own highly
individual and flexible ways, are well prepared for a
lifetime of learning.
As a mental model this allows the students to work in
teams and create a learning environment which
students can create a mental model of positive
interactions for students.

7. UDL and Personal
Mastery
Personal Mastery and the ability to set a goal go hand in
hand. The goal of the UDL project was to increase
fluency. Every student had a number to obtain for their
own Personal Mastery. This data was retrieved through
a pre-assessment that was administered prior to the
group lesson was administered.

8. UDL and Team Learning
Student s for this UDL project were broken into teams.
They were coded based on their individual needs. The
fluency paper was administered whereas each student
had their own different reading assessment. The
students each had their own data that showed where
they are and where they need to be. The worked as a
team with individual feedback provided by their peers
and by their own self-reflection.

9. UDL and Systems
Thinking
Regarding Systems Thinking the researcher knows the
strategic plan for the district. The fluency rate for the
district is at an all time low. This method allowed
students to achieve an attainable result. The district
noted the improvement with this method regarding
these students who have special needs and are ESL
learners.

11. Constructivism and
Shared Vision
The use of animation and multimedia for learning is now
further extended by the provision of entire Virtual Reality
Learning Environments (VRLE) (Huang, Rauch, & Liaw, 2010)
Google Cardboard is a VR tool that is constructed for the
purpose of utilizing Virtual Reality. The researcher suggested
that the construction of these devices will allow the learners
to visit virtual field trips. This shared vision allows users to go
places that can create a learning environment that are
financially appropriate for the district.

12. Constructivism and
Team Learning
Learners working in an Afterschool Technology Club on
the construction of the Google Cardboard can create a
learning team whereas the teacher becomes the
facilitator of the project while the students become the
learners.

13. Constructivism and
Personal Mastery
Once a goal has been created, whereas the students will
construct a VR headset, the completed project allows
learners to feel accomplished through personal mastery.
This gives the students the sense of self accomplishment
and individual pride. In the end they then becomes the
masters of the creative project and it allows others to
learn from them.

14. Constructivism and
Systems Thinking
Constructing ones own knowledge through building
something creates system thinking. This allows the
learners to create and become critical thinkers within a
system of knowledge. In the end a much larger system
is put into place which includes the district, the state
and society.

15. Constructivism and
Mental Models
When interacting with our environment, we form
internal mental models of ourselves, others, and the
artifacts of technology with which we interact
(Norman, 1983).
Creating a Google Cardboard allows the students to
create a mental model of the artifact to interact through
the Virtual World in which they choose to view.

17. Flipped Classroom and
Shared Vision
The Flipped Classroom started with a simple observation:
Students need their teachers present to answer questions or
to provide help if they get stuck on an assignment; they don’t
need their teachers present to listen to a lecture or review
content (Bergmann & Sams, 2012).
The shared vision is that the teacher becomes the facilitator of
instruction whereas the students become independent
learners. This vision is needed for students to become self-
learners. The researcher proposed a flipped MakerSpace by
which all participants would create three separate projects
based on microcontrollers.

18. Flipped Classroom and
Mental Models
The researcher suggested a Flipped MakerSpace to learn
about Microcontrollers and to create projects with the
use of Aurdinos.
This type of learning creates a mental model of what the
learner expectations are prior to being in the
MakerSpace itself. This gives the learners the ability to
create a mental model of what would be taught.

19. Flipped Classroom and
Personal Mastery
In a Flipped Classroom environment students attain
personal mastery by creating the specified projects
that are intended for the sole purpose of the
MakerSpace. The leader then creates an environment
conducive to learning, tracks the progress and then
assists in individual needs.

20. Flipped Classroom and
Team Learning
Implementing videos for instructional purposes offers
the students to collaborate in a team learning
environment. The flipped MakerSpace would offer
learners to not only learn from the instructor but also
learn from each other in a team learning environment.

21. Flipped Classroom and
Systems Thinking
Flipped MakerSpace allows individuals to gain problem
solving skills. These skills are necessary when it comes
to systems thinking.

22. Conclusion
The three projects that the researcher created for this
course can all be connected to the five disciplines that
Senge speaks of.
These theories can assist a teacher in clarifying their
goals on both a person level and that of their students.
Self-reflection and self-evaluation allows us all to
overcome obstacles and grow to create new futures.

23. References
http://watersfoundation.org/systems-thinking/what/
http://2012-leadership-
forum.iste.wikispaces.net/file/view/ISTE+Leadership+conf
erence+10202012.pdf
http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/whatisudl
http://www.udlcenter.org/implementation/fourdistricts
Huang, H. M., Rauch, U., & Liaw, S. S. (2010). Investigating
learners’ attitudes toward virtual reality learning
environments: Based on a constructivist approach.
Computers & Education, 55(3), 1171-1182.

24. References
http://www.cnet.com/news/googles-cardboard-vr-
headset-is-no-joke-its-great-for-the-oculus-rift/
Norman, D. (1983). Some observations on mental
models. In D. Gentner & A. Stevens (Eds.), Mental
models. (pp. 7-14). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and
practice of the learning organization. New York:
Doubleday/Currency.