Nigerian Students Turn to aI For Tests Answers, Lecturers Raise Alarm
Expert System (AI) is revolutionizing education while making finding out more available but likewise stimulating arguments on its impact.
While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for enhancing their knowing experience, speakers are raising issues about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic integrity, specifically with lots of students unable to defend their projects or asteroidsathome.net given works.
Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a speaker at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, prawattasao.awardspace.info expressed disappointment over the growing reliance on AI-generated responses amongst trainees stating a recent experience he had.
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"I offered an assignment to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% submitted the precise very same answers. These students did not even understand each other, but they all used the same AI tool to create their reactions," he said.
He noted that this trend is prevalent among both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees but is especially worrying in part-time and range learning programs.
"AI is a severe obstacle when it concerns projects. Many students no longer believe critically-they simply go on the internet, create responses, and submit," he added.
Surprisingly, some lecturers are likewise accused of on AI, setting a cycle where both teachers and valetinowiki.racing trainees turn to AI for convenience instead of intellectual rigor.
This argument raises important questions about the role of AI in academic stability and trainee advancement.
According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million month-to-month active users in January 2023, greyhawkonline.com just one country had released policies on generative AI as of July 2023.
Since December 2024, ChatGPT had over 300 million individuals using the AI chatbot each week and 1 billion messages sent out every day around the globe.
Decline of scholastic rigor
University speakers are significantly worried about students submitting AI-generated tasks without truly comprehending the content.
Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his issues to Nairametrics about students increasingly relying on ChatGPT, only to struggle with addressing standard concerns when checked.
"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and send polished assignments, however when asked basic questions, they go blank. It's disappointing due to the fact that education has to do with learning, not just passing courses," he said.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing variety of first-rate graduates can not be completely credited to AI but confessed that even high-performing students utilize these tools.
"A superior student is a top-notch trainee, AI or not, but that doesn't indicate they don't cheat. The advantages of AI may be peripheral, but it is making students reliant and less analytical," he stated.
- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, library.kemu.ac.ke from Ebonyi State University, raised a different concern that some speakers themselves are guilty of the same practice.
"It's not simply trainees using AI lazily. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, generate lesson notes, course describes, marking plans, and even test concerns with AI without reviewing them. Students in turn use AI to create responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine knowing," he regreted.
Students' perspectives on usage
Students, on the other hand, state AI has improved their knowing experience by making scholastic products more understandable and available.
- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee at Unilag, shared how AI has substantially helped her learning by breaking down complex terms and offering summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI assisted me understand things more quickly, specifically when dealing with complex subjects," she described.
However, she recalled a circumstances when she used AI to submit her task, just for her lecturer to immediately acknowledge that it was generated by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad result.
- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently graduated with a first-class degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, firmly believes that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his outstanding grades to actively engaging by asking questions and focusing on locations that speakers highlight in class, as they are often shown in test questions.
"It's everything about being present, taking note, and taking advantage of the wealth of understanding shared by my associates," he stated,
- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, admits to periodically copying straight from ChatGPT when facing numerous deadlines.
"To be sincere, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have numerous deadlines, and I understand I'm guilty of that, most times the lecturers don't get to read through them, however AI has also assisted me discover much faster."
Balancing AI's role in education
Experts think the service depends on AI literacy; mentor trainees and speakers how to use AI as a learning help instead of a shortcut.
- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the value of a well balanced method that keeps human involvement while harnessing AI to improve learning outcomes.
"As we navigate the rapidly progressing landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is essential that we prioritise human agency in education. We need to make sure that AI improves, rather than replaces, teachers' essential function in shaping young minds," he said
Concerns over AI in Learning
Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity change specialist, resolved growing issues regarding the use of expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their prospective risks to the instructional system.
- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, however, stressed the need for caution in its usage.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance among teachers and schools towards integrating AI tools in learning environments. She identified two main factors why AI tools are dissuaded in instructional settings: security risks and plagiarism. She discussed that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react based upon user interactions, which might not line up with the expectations of teachers.
"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade said, discussing that AI doesn't deal with specific mentor techniques.
Plagiarism is another problem, as AI pulls from existing data, frequently without proper attribution
"A great deal of individuals need to understand, like I said, this is information that has been trained on. It is not simply bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing details that some other individuals are fed into it, which in essence indicates that is another individual's paperwork," she warned.
- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early concern in AI advancement known as "hallucination," where AI tools would produce details that was not accurate.
"Hallucination meant that it was highlighting details from the air. If ChatGPT might not get that information from you, it was going to make one up," she discussed.
She suggested "grounding" AI by supplying it with particular info to prevent such mistakes.
Navigating AI in Education
Akintade argued that banning AI tools outright is not the service, particularly when AI presents an opportunity to leapfrog standard instructional methods.
- She thinks that regularly enhancing crucial information assists individuals remember and avoid making mistakes when confronted with difficulties.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform individuals the same thing over and over once again, when they will make the errors, then they'll remember."
She also empasized the need for clear policies and treatments within schools, noting that lots of schools should attend to individuals and process aspects of this usage.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has actually turned to in-class assignments and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I primarily utilize projects to make sure trainees provide original work." However, he acknowledged that managing large classes makes this approach challenging.
"If you set complicated concerns, trainees will not be able to use AI to get direct answers," he described.
He highlighted the requirement for universities to train lecturers on crafting test questions that AI can not quickly fix while acknowledging that some lecturers battle to counter AI abuse due to an absence of technological awareness. "Some lecturers are analogue," he stated.
- Nigeria released a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI advancement with fairness, openness, accountability, and personal privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report calls for the guideline of AI in education, encouraging organizations to audit algorithms, bytes-the-dust.com information, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they fulfill ethical requirements, secure user information, and filter inappropriate content.
- It worries the need to assess the long-lasting effect of AI on critical abilities like believing and creativity while developing policies that align with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO suggests executing age constraints for GenAI usage to secure more youthful trainees and protect susceptible groups.
- For governments, it recommended adopting a coordinated nationwide technique to managing GenAI, consisting of establishing oversight bodies and lining up regulations with existing data protection and privacy laws. It highlights evaluating AI risks, implementing stricter rules for high-risk applications, and ensuring national information ownership.