Nigerian Students Turn to aI For Tests Answers, Lecturers Raise Alarm
Expert System (AI) is changing education while making discovering more available however also sparking disputes on its effect.
While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their learning experience, lecturers are raising concerns about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens scholastic integrity, particularly with lots of trainees unable to protect their tasks or provided works.
Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, wiki.die-karte-bitte.de a speaker at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, revealed aggravation over the growing reliance on AI-generated actions amongst students stating a recent experience he had.
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"I provided a task to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 students, about 40% submitted the precise very same answers. These trainees did not even know each other, however they all used the very same AI tool to generate their responses," he stated.
He kept in mind that this trend prevails among both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees but is especially concerning in part-time and distance learning programs.
"AI is a serious challenge when it comes to assignments. Many trainees no longer think critically-they just browse the web, produce responses, and submit," he added.
Surprisingly, some speakers are likewise accused of over-relying on AI, setting a cycle where both educators and trainees turn to AI for benefit rather than intellectual rigor.
This dispute raises important questions about the role of AI in academic integrity and student development.
According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million regular monthly active users in January 2023, just one country had launched policies on generative AI as of July 2023.
As of December 2024, ChatGPT had over 300 million people utilizing the AI chatbot every week and 1 billion messages sent out every day around the globe.
Decline of scholastic rigor
University lecturers are increasingly concerned about students sending AI-generated projects without genuinely understanding the content.
Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his concerns to Nairametrics about students progressively depending on ChatGPT, only to fight with responding to fundamental questions when checked.
"Many students copy from ChatGPT and send sleek assignments, however when asked fundamental concerns, they go blank. It's frustrating due to the fact that education is about finding out, not just passing courses," he stated.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu explained that the increasing number of first-class graduates can not be completely credited to AI but admitted that even high-performing trainees use these tools.
"A top-notch student is a top-notch student, AI or not, but that doesn't imply they do not cheat. The advantages of AI may be peripheral, but it is making students reliant and less analytical," he said.
- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a different issue that some speakers themselves are guilty of the very same practice.
"It's not simply students utilizing AI slackly. Some lecturers, out of their own laziness, generate lesson notes, course outlines, 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 killing real knowing," he regreted.
Students' viewpoints on usage
Students, on the other hand, say AI has actually improved their learning experience by making scholastic products more reasonable and available.
- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee at Unilag, asteroidsathome.net shared how AI has considerably aided her knowing by breaking down complex terms and offering summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI helped me comprehend things more easily, particularly when dealing with complex topics," she explained.
However, she recalled a circumstances when she utilized AI to send her task, just for her speaker to right away acknowledge that it was created by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad effect.
- Bryan Okwuba, gratisafhalen.be who recently finished with a top-notch degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, securely believes that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his impressive grades to actively engaging by asking questions and focusing on locations that lecturers highlight in class, as they are often shown in examination concerns.
"It's everything about existing, paying attention, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my coworkers," he stated,
- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, confesses to occasionally copying directly from ChatGPT when dealing with several deadlines.
"To be honest, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have several deadlines, and I understand I'm guilty of that, most times the lecturers don't get to check out through them, however AI has actually likewise assisted me find out quicker."
Balancing AI's role in education
Experts think the service depends on AI literacy; teaching students and lecturers how to use AI as a knowing help rather than a faster way.
- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the significance of a well balanced method that keeps human involvement while utilizing AI to improve learning outcomes.
"As we navigate the quickly progressing landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is vital that we prioritise human agency in education. We need to make sure that AI enhances, rather than changes, teachers' essential role in forming young minds," he stated
Concerns over AI in Learning
Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity transformation expert, addressed growing issues relating to using artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their potential threats to the instructional system.
- She acknowledged the benefits of AI, however, highlighted the need for care in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance among teachers and schools toward including AI tools in learning environments. She identified 2 primary reasons that AI tools are discouraged in educational settings: security threats and plagiarism. She described that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react based upon user interactions, wavedream.wiki which may not line up with the expectations of teachers.
"It is not looking at it as a tutor," said, engel-und-waisen.de discussing that AI doesn't accommodate specific mentor techniques.
Plagiarism is another concern, as AI pulls from existing information, typically without appropriate attribution
"A great deal of people need to understand, like I stated, this is data that has actually been trained on. It is not simply bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing info that some other people are fed into it, which in essence indicates that is another individual's documentation," she cautioned.
- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early issue in AI advancement referred to as "hallucination," where AI tools would produce info that was not accurate.
"Hallucination meant that it was drawing out info from the air. If ChatGPT might not get that information from you, it was going to make one up," she described.
She recommended "grounding" AI by supplying it with particular info to avoid such errors.
Navigating AI in Education
Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the service, particularly when AI provides an opportunity to leapfrog traditional instructional methods.
- She believes that consistently enhancing essential info helps people keep in mind and avoid making mistakes when faced with difficulties.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell individuals the exact same thing over and over again, when they will make the mistakes, then they'll keep in mind."
She likewise empasized the requirement for clear policies and treatments within schools, noting that lots of schools need to resolve individuals and procedure aspects of this use.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has turned to in-class assignments and securityholes.science tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I generally use assignments to make sure students provide original work." However, he acknowledged that handling large classes makes this method challenging.
"If you set intricate questions, students will not have the ability to utilize AI to get direct answers," he described.
He stressed the need for universities to train speakers on crafting test concerns that AI can not easily resolve while acknowledging that some lecturers struggle to counter AI misuse due to a lack of technological awareness. "Some lecturers are analogue," he stated.
- Nigeria launched a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI development with fairness, transparency, accountability, and privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report requires the policy of AI in education, advising institutions to examine algorithms, data, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they meet ethical standards, protect user information, and filter inappropriate material.
- It worries the need to examine the long-lasting effect of AI on important abilities like believing and imagination while producing policies that align with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO advises implementing age limitations for GenAI usage to safeguard younger trainees and secure vulnerable groups.
- For federal governments, it advised embracing a coordinated nationwide technique to controling GenAI, consisting of establishing oversight bodies and aligning policies with existing data defense and privacy laws. It stresses evaluating AI risks, enforcing stricter rules for high-risk applications, and guaranteeing national data ownership.