Agents of ViTAL: Ethics Missions -- A Narrative-Centered Learning Environment with a Co-Designed Conversational Agent for Middle School AI Ethics

Sarah Burriss; Jinzhi Zhou; Namrata Srivastava; Justin Phillips; Courtney Barron; Kara Cassell; Albert Na; Megan Humburg; Tom Hu; Benjamin Yang; Corey Brady; Ole Molvig

arXiv · 2608.23580

Agents of ViTAL: Ethics Missions -- A Narrative-Centered Learning Environment with a Co-Designed Conversational Agent for Middle School AI Ethics

Sarah Burriss·Jinzhi Zhou·Namrata Srivastava·Justin Phillips·Courtney Barron·Kara Cassell·Albert Na·Megan Humburg·Tom Hu·Benjamin Yang·Corey Brady·Ole Molvig

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Abstract

Agents of ViTAL: Ethics Missions is a browser-based, narrative-centered learning environment in which middle school students collaboratively evaluate whether a fictional school should adopt an AI-powered classroom feedback tool. Students investigate stakeholder perspectives, weigh tradeoffs across three AI ethics dimensions (privacy, bias, and environmental impact), and negotiate group consensus through a shared Ranking Challenge interface. The environment embeds EthicsBot, a conversational agent designed as a peer-like thought partner that scaffolds ethical reasoning and collaborative discussion. The project is being iteratively co-designed with high school students, whose feedback shapes EthicsBot's role, behavior, and guardrails. Initial classroom implementations with four ninth-grade classes demonstrated strong engagement and substantive ethical reasoning grounded in students' lived experiences with AI. The demo invites attendees to explore the learning environment, participate in the collaborative Ranking Challenge, and interact with EthicsBot.

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BibTeX RIS

Sarah Burriss, Jinzhi Zhou, Namrata Srivastava, Justin Phillips, Courtney Barron, Kara Cassell, Albert Na, Megan Humburg, Tom Hu, Benjamin Yang, Corey Brady, Ole Molvig. 2026-07-13. Agents of ViTAL: Ethics Missions -- A Narrative-Centered Learning Environment with a Co-Designed Conversational Agent for Middle School AI Ethics. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.23580

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