DeliberLearn: An AI-Augmented Learning Platform for Deliberative Skill Training of Students
We develop DeliberLearn, an AI platform which effectively scaffolds students’ deliberative processes and trains their deliberative skills.
Duration: September 2026 – August 2027
Status: Ongoing
Educational level: Tertiary Level
Topics: AI – Artificial Intelligence, Digital Tools
Keywords: Deliberative skill training; Civic education; AI-supported learning
Background
Democratic participation requires people to understand different perspectives, discuss disagreement constructively, and find common ground. Yet students have few opportunities to practise these skills with guidance and feedback. Instructors often lack the time and resources to facilitate repeated deliberative practice. Existing digital tools offer exposure to different viewpoints but provide limited support during dialogue, and little evidence shows whether skills gained with AI transfer to discussions with other people.
Objectives
We aim to develop DeliberLearn, an open-source AI platform that helps university students practise deliberative skills through voice dialogue, timely guidance, and feedback. We will evaluate how students learn with the platform and whether these skills transfer to discussions with peers, and derive design principles for AI-supported deliberative learning.
Method
We will identify learning needs through literature review and stakeholder interviews, co-design and iteratively test an AI-supported deliberation platform, and evaluate its effects and transfer to peer deliberation in a mixed-method study with university students.
Planned translation
We will release DeliberLearn as an open-source web platform with documentation for educators and researchers. DeliberLearn targets university educators and students, providing an adaptable platform to strengthen students’ deliberation skills while helping educators integrate structured AI-supported discussion into their courses.
We expect DeliberLearn to expand access to guided deliberative practice and provide evidence on how AI can support civic learning.
