Would this be worth reading?
by tdaxp ~ September 6th, 2007
Proposed Title: Implicit Guidance and Control
Proposed Subtitle: Applying the Strategy of John Boyd to Educational Psychology
Proposed Abstract:
The article presents an overview of the Observe-Orient-Decide-Act (OODA) model of cognition. The OODA model’s history, use in military strategy, and utility in educational contexts is discussed. Next, special attention is paid to how the OODA model integrates into Boydian cognition, cognitive science, and educational psychology, focusing especially on (a) orientation, or implicit guidance and control over action, (b) decision, or hypothesis generation, and (c) disorientation, or the process of interfering with the former and encouraging the latter. Following this, an interpretuation of the sociocultural contexs that make OODA model analysis especially productive is given. Specifically, the OODA model is applied to the realms of (a) education, or improving performance in discrete tasks, (b) academics, or proper behavior among peers, and (c) creativity, or life-long success. Finally, the role of the OODA model in developing rationality, which is a vital goal across educational, is briefly considered.
Thoughts?
The New York Times uses top 1% of income, not wealth. From the legend:...
September 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Jay,
Interesting… Could you say more?
My thought was to focus on Orientation, Decision, and disorientation (as the process that forces feed-forward into decision and limits implicit guidance and control), so I'm very interested in alternative formulations!
September 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Hmmm… Is OODA simply a model of “cognition” and “rationality”? If its purely reductionist in nature, then how do we account for Clausewitzian genius?
It's an interesting horizontal leap. I'd be interested in seeing how you apply OODA to pedagogy.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
It would be interesting, especially your mention of rationality. I think the OODA is essentially a model of rational decision making, but one more complex than that suggested by the simple assumption of actors as rational utility maximizers. I tend to think what is rational is learned by people externally, and so the OODA can explain how things are learned and unlearned and how orientations change over time. This would directly relate to the disorientation you mention.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
As I understand it, OODA is a model for competitive decision making – make a better decision faster than the your competitor. Not that this can't be done, but you'd have to convince me that OODA is relevant to non-competitive enterprises like education.
September 7th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Boyd developed OODA through the prism of his own purposes – a darwinian survival mechanism – but there are elements of OODA that would easily apply to a aspects of learning in a formal educational setting. Such as:
Automaticity
Attention
Integration (of concepts/data)
Comprehension
Perception
Group dynamics
Dan you are on the right track IMHO. I'd also bring in Creation and Destruction too and, in writing your paper, craft your explanatory prefaces with the thought in mind that you are bringing to the table material *far* outside the comfort zone or knowledge of most of the EdD types. OODA must be introduced well or it will be summarily dismissed for a host of reasons.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Interesting. I think you'd have to break each stage of OODA (as Boyd defined it) into smaller increments in much the same fashion of your own OODA revision for 5GW.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Seems plausible enough – I would make sure to stick that stuff up in the front of the paper, in order to convince me that the comparison is relevant.
Would you be writing the paper with Dr. K?
September 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I'm doing another project, more hush hush for now, under K. This is being done under M [1]
[1] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2007/08/13/adolescent-psychological-development-inroduction-rationality.html
September 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
My thinking is that education is competitive, and the learner is the thinking “adversary, or target of the practioner's efforts [1,2].
More thoughts?
[1] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2005/11/29/final-thoughts-on-human-cognition-and-instruction.html
[2] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2005/09/28/forgetting-and-representing.html
September 7th, 2007 at 12:00 am
zenpundit,
You're right, of course.
The means here is a two-semester project, and the goal is a framework, in press at a theoretical journal, to frame the empirical work I am doing.
A complete explanation of the OODA loop as it applies to educational psychology is probably beyond the scope of this work, or even a dissertation. I think of it somewhat as a four-by-three enterprise
Boydian Writing-General Psych Research Program-Ed Psych Research Program-Possible Application
– by -
Orientation, Decision, Disorientation
So, for instance, an Disorientation-in-EdPsych section may overview the cognitive load research of John Sweller, and Disorientation-in-Practice would be a hook on which the wary student research [1] could later be integrated into a larger work.
Your warnings are valuable. What other ones do you have?
Steve and Shane,
Brilliant comments. But too close to the hush-hush project for a reply comment at this time.
[1] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2007/05/31/the-wary-student-introduction-in-search-of.html
September 7th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I'm not familiar with the OODA model, but I think the article could be interesting because applying principles of military strategy psychology to educational psychology sounds like a unique approach. Are you aiming to submit the paper to ed psych journals?
September 7th, 2007 at 12:00 am
“…But too close to the hush-hush project for a reply comment at this time…”
Tease.
September 7th, 2007 at 12:00 am
ps,
Haha!
fl,
Thanks.
The goal would be an article in either Journal of Educational Psychology or Educational Psychologist, both of which are theoretically-oriented.
September 9th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Re: warnings
Well…hmmm….I think that would go to thinking strategically about who would eventually end up on your dissertation committee someday. And how to deal with them.
I don't know your school but any sizable university department usually contains at least one tenured flake and at least one mean/unethical/backstabbing S.O.B. who needs a therapist but instead is given grad students.
And of course, the occasional feud between faculty members.
Start by considering the rocks on which you do not wish to ground the Ship of tdaxp
)
September 10th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Mark,
Wise words on the committee.
While everyone was open enough with me, I learned midway into my Master's thesis that two of my committee members were not on speaking terms with each other.
I still need to form a committee (I'm technically not in the phd program until December), so I've tried to lay the groundwork for this. This theoretical project, the wary student [1], and hush-hush project are under different faculty, so hopefully each will be able to see his voice in the final work.
Of course, then there's the whole other issue of the university's bureaucratic requirements…