Professor 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.

Since the mid nineteenth century, numerous researchers have attempted to formulate pedagogic challenge by the construction of hierarchies. Bloom, Anderson, Marzano, Van Hiele, Gagne, and Webb have independently formulated taxonomies; these taxonomies correlate well with each other indicating an intrinsic deeper structure. The goal of this presentation is explore a new approach to pedagogic challenge. This new approach has four distinct advantages over the current hierarchy approach: i) Cybernetic: It is exclusively based on internal information flow within a system and independent of subject matter content; ii) Operationally defined: The approach is based on objectively measurable activities such as counting and does not require a feel for concepts like creativity or analysis; iii) Interdisciplinary: We cite examples of our approach in diverse disciplines including mathematics, literary analysis, law, music, and games like chess; iv) Multi-disciplinary based: The approach bases itself on psychological, anatomical, logical and computer based correlating concepts. The essence of the approach is to assess pedagogic challenge by the degree of executive function required for learning; the degree of executive function in turn is based on a) the number of psychological modalities (visual, formal, analytical, and verbal) used in instruction and b) the number of Boolean parameters (the "Boolean function") by which the rules of the discipline are developed. We show this approach consistent with modern attempts at improving education such as the core standards.