Don't grade answers.
Grade understanding.

Stop grading what AI wrote. Start grading what really matters: understanding, critical thinking, and communication.

LIVE
Live debate · AI moderated

Used by educators from

MIT Columbia University Torcuato Di Tella University UCLA Duke University
Live demo

See Debatio in action, from start to finish.

Explore the complete evaluation journey: preparation, AI-moderated debate, automatic evaluation, and results, all in one seamless experience.

Debate shown

Click each step to walk through it.

The problem

AI changed how students do the work. It didn't change how they prove they understand it.

Today, students can use AI tools to research, write, and generate answers in seconds.

The challenge for educators is no longer grading the content they submit. It's knowing whether they actually understood it.

Generated answer
Real understanding?

A correct answer no longer confirms a student understood the topic.

Position
AI analysis
Evaluation

The student defines and defends their position on the topic.

The solution

Turn answers into conversations. And conversations into evidence of learning.

Debatio turns evaluation into an active experience. Students research, defend their ideas, answer questions, and build arguments in front of their peers. Meanwhile, AI facilitates the discussion and generates an objective, rubric-based evaluation.

🎓 Educators: save hours of manual grading 🗣️ Students: practice critical thinking

From assignment to results, in one continuous flow.

1
Create assignment
2
Debate
3
Evaluation
4
Results
How it works

A closer look at every step.

Eight steps from assignment to grade. You are involved in the first three.

1

You create the assignment

The prompt: the question your students answer in a memo, then defend in a live debate. A few minutes, once per assignment.

Creating a debate assignment in Debatio
2

You define the rubric

In your own words, with the points for each block. You decide exactly how the debate is scored, and Debatio applies it to every student.

Writing the rubric with weighted criteria
3

You choose the debate format

The difference is how many stations the debate runs. Fewer stations is shorter and simpler; more stations is longer and more structured. A default is set for you.

Choosing simple or structured by station count
4

Your students upload their memos

Debatio extracts the thesis, pulls out the key claims, checks the citations and detects the position each student took. No work for you.

A student uploading their prep memo
5

Debatio pairs your students

It reads across the memos and assigns opposing sides, so two students who agree still have something real to argue about. Each pairing comes with the reason it was made.

Debatio pairing students and explaining the match
6

The AI moderates the debate

It runs the turns, keeps the clock, moves through the stations and holds both students to the format. You do not have to be there.

The AI moderating a live debate between two students
7

Your student gets their feedback

Scored against the same rubric you wrote, block by block, with the moderator’s notes on what actually happened in the debate.

A student reading their rubric-based feedback
8

You get the scores and the curve

The list you actually wanted: every student, raw score and curved grade, ranked across the cohort and mapped to a grading band. Nothing left to mark.

The professor dashboard with scores and the grade curve
9

Every debate stays saved

One view holds every debate you have run. Open any one for its recording, the AI summary and each student’s grade. The full picture, always there.

The professor library of saved debates with recordings and grades
Product

Everything you need to assess critical thinking.

AI moderation

Enables consistent, structured debates.

Structured debates

A methodology designed to build argumentation skills.

Automatic evaluation

Rubrics, scores, and instant feedback.

Dashboard

Track each student's performance.

Analytics

Measure participation, argument quality, and progress.

Academic management

Manage courses, classes, and students from one place.

The phases of the debate

A debate designed to build critical thinking.

1

Opening

Students present and support their position.

2

Cross-examination

They listen to, question, and challenge each other's ideas.

3

Rebuttal

They respond using evidence and reasoning.

4

Closing

They defend their conclusion and summarize their arguments.

Each stage assesses a different critical-thinking skill.

Why debate?

Critical thinking develops by defending ideas.

For years, education technology focused on helping students find answers.

We believe the deepest learning happens when students have to explain, question, and defend their ideas in front of others.

AI doesn't replace that interaction. It makes it possible at scale.

Traditional learning with AI

Student AI Answer Submission

With Debatio

Student ↔ Student Debate Argumentation Feedback Real understanding
Academic management

Your entire debate program, in one dashboard.

Classes, instructors, students, and assignments: manage your entire academic program from a single screen, no more scattered spreadsheets.

Debatio admin dashboard with classes, instructors, students, and assignments
Classes and courses
Instructors and students
Assignments and tasks
Live debates in real time
Quick setup for classes and users
Instant activity feed
Benefits

What changes with Debatio.

Before
After
Answers get graded.
Understanding gets graded.
Manual grading.
Automatic evaluation.
Uneven participation.
Everyone has to argue their case.
Limited feedback.
Personalized feedback.
Hard to measure critical thinking.
Objective, evidence-based evaluation.
Frequently asked questions

FAQ

No. Creating an assignment takes just a few minutes.

No. The instructor designs the learning experience. Debatio facilitates the debate and automates evaluation.

Yes. But during the debate they'll need to show they understand and can defend their arguments.

Yes. Debatio can be used in any subject where argumentation and critical thinking matter.

No. It's designed to be as simple to use as a video call.

AI can generate answers. Critical thinking is still human.

Prepare your students to learn, argue, and demonstrate understanding in the age of artificial intelligence.

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