Russell Jay Hendel holds a doctorate in theoretical mathematics from M.I.T., an associateship from the Society of Actuaries, and is in a doctoral program at the Spertus Institute for a degree in Jewish studies. He is currently an Adjunct II faculty member at Towson University which has recently become a Center of Actuarial Excellence. His research and publication interests include discrete number theory, actuarial science, biblical exegesis, the theory of pedagogy, applications of technology to pedagogy, and the interaction of mathematics and the arts. He regularly reviews books for the Mathematical Association of America.

Following the cybernetic approach of Ashby, who advocated replacing "higher order" concepts with mechanistic definitions, we present mechanistic approaches to higher cognitive pedagogy that are content independent, depending exclusively on information flow. "Higher cognitive" is identified with executive function, more specifically, the continual multi-dimensional processing of information. Pedagogy is defined as facilitating multi-dimensional processing on a base of atomic skill competencies. Even skill performance, when coupled with executive function is higher order. Mathematics, writing and foreign-language course interpretations are presented and applications to exercise construction are explored.