How Teaching Must Become Weirder

Process-Oriented instead of Knowledge-Oriented

Dr Brian Ballsun-Stanton | Faculty of Arts, Macquarie University

brian.ballsun-stanton@mq.edu.au

Keynote for "spacing – Learning between Spaces" | 2025 Sep 25

© Brian Ballsun-Stanton, Licensed CC-BY 4.0 International

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17171573

Appropriate Policies:

  1. Innovation Initiatives: Policies that encourage research and development in key industries.
  2. Trade Agreements: Negotiating and implementing fair trade deals to benefit U.S. businesses.
  3. Digital Economy Policies: Addressing challenges and opportunities in e-commerce, data privacy, and cybersecurity.
  4. Workforce Development: Programs to enhance skills and training for the modern economy.
  5. Small Business Support: Initiatives to help small businesses grow and compete globally.
  6. Infrastructure Investment: Policies to improve physical and digital infrastructure to support commerce.

Important Considerations:

  1. Interagency Collaboration: Work closely with other departments like State, Treasury, and Labor on overlapping issues.
  2. Public-Private Partnerships: Foster relationships between government and private sector to drive economic growth.
  3. Data-Driven Decision Making: Utilize the vast data resources of the Department to inform policy decisions.
  4. Global Economic Trends: Stay attuned to international economic developments that may...
1
"...ein Raum sein, der die Trennung zwischen Prozess und Endprodukt aufhebt."
— Handout from the performance space
"AI makes the humanities more important, but also a lot weirder."
— Benjamin Breen, 2025
2

The Journey Today – Plan for the Keynote

FROM CRISIS THROUGH REVOLUTION

Part 1: The Crisis

Assessment theatre can no longer demonstrate value

Part 2: The Revolution

Judgment and metacognition matter more, not less

Part 3: The New Normal

Three practices you can implement tomorrow

3

The Crisis: 15 Years of Hollowing

WHAT AI REVEALED, NOT CAUSED

What universities claimed:

  • We teach critical thinking
  • Knowledge Transfer
  • We support life skills
  • Fantastic opportunities for networking
  • "Merit-based evaluation"

What actually happened:

  • Rote regurgitation within careful variation
  • Credential Transactionalism
  • Here's an online module
  • Working full-time, studying "full-time"
  • Retention-based incentives

From: Ballsun-Stanton, B., & Khalid, M. (2025, June 16). The Emperor's New Clothes: A Manifesto for Universities in an AI-Haunted World.

4

The Revolution

What still matters?

5

Why Judgement Matters More

Marzano's New Taxonomy as Applied to AI

(Opportunities for Human Judgement)

BEYOND COGNITIVE REPRODUCTION

Self System

"Why am I doing this?"

Metacognitive System

Monitor process, set goals, track accuracy

Critical reflection lives here

Cognitive System – Knowledge Utilisation

"Applying what I know"

Problem Solving/Investigating

Don't Bother with Summative Assessments for:

  • Cognitive System – Analysis (Matching/Classifying, Generalising)
  • Cognitive System – Comprehension
  • Cognitive System - Retrieval

(Tasks below the threshold of AI)

6

Productive Failure in Action

EVIDENCE FROM 23 Students

Greek Civil War Simulation

CFR "Opposing Communism" simulation

b. Provide targeted support for the agricultural sector, addressing the Secretary of Agriculture's concerns about food security and economic transition.

c. Offer tax incentives and low-interest loans to small businesses, supporting local economic growth.

d. Invest in infrastructure projects to boost productivity and create jobs.

This focus on domestic investment aligns with all our views on strengthening the U.S. economy as a bulwark against communism.

11. Economic Diplomacy (Priority 3):

a. Leverage our economic strength to influence global affairs without military intervention.

b. Encourage our allies to increase their support for Greece and other at-risk nations.

c. Promote trade agreements that benefit American businesses and workers while strengthening ties with democratic nations.

This approach allows us to maintain global influence without overextending our resources.

12. Flexible Containment Strategy (Priority 4):

a. Develop a case-by-case approach to addressing communist expansion, rather than a universal policy.

b. Focus on economic and diplomatic tools as primary means of containment.

c. Reserve military intervention for only the most critical situations directly threatening U.S. national security.

This strategy addresses the concerns of those who want to counter communism while avoiding the pitfalls of a blanket containment policy.

5. Public Education Campaign (Priority 5):

a. Launch an initiative to inform the American people about the benefits of this balanced approach.

b. Emphasize how this policy protects American interests both at home and abroad.

c. Highlight the connection between a strong domestic economy and effective global leadership.

This campaign would help build public support for our policy, addressing concerns raised by multiple cabinet members.

Week 6 Annotated Prompts from Greek Civil War Simulation, Politics & International Relations Stream

7

A New Normal

TECHNIQUES FOR METACOGNITION

8

The Grimoire - Shared Spellbooks for AI

TACIT KNOWLEDGE MADE EXPLICIT

"Grimoires are prompt collections...shared not hoarded"
— Ethan Mollick ("Now is the time for Grimoires", 2023)
9

Practical Starting Points

"Show me your prompts"

Begin every class with prompt sharing – on and off topic.

What to implement tomorrow

10

Resources

Brian.ballsun-stanton@mq.edu.au

This presentation CC-BY. Available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17171573

All Claude chats used to produce this also available there.

Acknowledgment: I would like to warmly thank Dr Ulrike Garde for her thoughts, discussions, and assistance with editing the translation. All errors are my own.

11