Platforms / Group debate, in development
MIRA-Roundtable
A live group debate environment. Students meet at a scheduled time, take positions on a question without a settled answer, and argue with an AI discussant that takes the side the group has not taken.
- Domain
- Group debate on open questions in learning
- Format
- Live small-group sessions with an AI discussant
- Status
- In development
- Theoretical basis
- Argumentative moves (Leitão, 2000) and socially shared regulation
Why it exists
Our other platforms pair one student with an AI. In coursework, students often reason together, and an AI in the group can shape how the whole group reasons. MIRA-Roundtable studies this setting.
At a scheduled time, a small group of students joins a live session and discusses a question on how novices learn, drawing on four published papers. Each student chooses a position at the start. MIRA, the AI discussant, argues the side the group has not taken. A shared position map shows where each student started, where each stands now, and which arguments each student has answered. At the end, each student chooses a position again.
The question is whether students can develop and hold a position together under pressure from an AI, and how the group divides the work of arguing. A written product can be prepared in advance. A live group discussion cannot, so the discussion itself is the object of study.
What students see, and what the platform records
A design mockup. The platform is in development, and the final design may change.
Position map (design mockup)
Each row is a student. A hollow circle marks the opening position and a filled circle marks the current one. Argument cards sit under the position they support, and dashed cards mark questions no one has answered yet.
What it measures
Planned measures. The analysis follows the discussion rather than a finished document.
Argumentative moves
Each turn is coded with an eleven-move scheme built on Leitão (2000), so the analysis can follow how each student’s moves change during a session.
Position change
Positions at the start, during, and at the end show who moved, who held, and the reasons each student gave.
Division of argumentative work
The record shows which students carry the argument, which respond to the AI, and which points stay unanswered. This makes the redistribution of epistemic labor within the group visible.
Designed and developed by Ji Hyun Yu, MIRA Lab.