Nigerian Students Turn to aI For Tests Answers, Lecturers Raise Alarm
Expert System (AI) is reinventing education while making discovering more accessible however likewise sparking debates on its impact.
While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for boosting their knowing experience, speakers are raising issues about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and undermines scholastic integrity, specifically with many trainees unable to safeguard their projects or provided works.
Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, opensourcebridge.science a speaker at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, wiki.lafabriquedelalogistique.fr revealed disappointment over the growing reliance on AI-generated responses among trainees recounting a current experience he had.
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"I offered a project to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% submitted the specific same answers. These students did not even understand each other, however they all used the exact same AI tool to produce their reactions," he said.
He kept in mind that this trend prevails amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees however is especially worrying in part-time and range knowing programs.
"AI is a major obstacle when it comes to projects. Many students no longer believe critically-they simply browse the web, generate responses, and submit," he included.
Surprisingly, some lecturers are also accused of over-relying on AI, setting a cycle where both educators and students turn to AI for convenience instead of intellectual rigor.
This debate raises vital questions about the function of AI in academic integrity and trainee development.
According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly active users in January 2023, only one nation had launched policies on generative AI since July 2023.
Since December 2024, ChatGPT had over 300 million individuals utilizing the AI chatbot every week and 1 billion messages sent every day around the world.
Decline of scholastic rigor
University speakers are increasingly worried about trainees sending AI-generated projects without genuinely understanding the content.
Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his concerns to Nairametrics about students progressively relying on ChatGPT, only to fight with addressing standard concerns when evaluated.
"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and submit refined tasks, however when asked basic concerns, they go blank. It's frustrating due to the fact that education is about discovering, not simply passing courses," he said.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing variety of first-class graduates can not be completely credited to AI but confessed that even high-performing students utilize these tools.
"A first-class trainee is a first-rate student, AI or not, but that doesn't imply they don't cheat. The benefits of AI may be peripheral, however it is making students dependent and less analytical," he said.
- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a different issue that some lecturers themselves are guilty of the same practice.
"It's not just trainees utilizing AI lazily. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, generate lesson notes, course details, marking schemes, and even exam concerns with AI without reviewing them. Students in turn utilize AI to create answers. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing real knowing," he regreted.
Students' point of views on usage
Students, on the other hand, state AI has actually enhanced their learning experience by making academic materials more reasonable and available.
- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration student at Unilag, shared how AI has considerably helped her learning by breaking down complex terms and supplying summaries of prolonged texts.
"AI helped me comprehend things more easily, especially when dealing with complex topics," she discussed.
However, she recalled an instance when she used AI to send her job, just for her lecturer to instantly acknowledge that it was produced by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad result.
- Bryan Okwuba, who recently graduated with a top-notch degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, securely thinks that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He attributes his exceptional grades to actively engaging by asking concerns and focusing on areas that lecturers highlight in class, as they are typically reflected in examination concerns.
"It's everything about being present, focusing, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my colleagues," he stated,
- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, confesses to periodically copying straight from ChatGPT when facing numerous due dates.
"To be truthful, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have several deadlines, and I know I'm guilty of that, most times the lecturers do not get to go through them, however AI has likewise helped me learn faster."
Balancing AI's function in education
Experts think the solution lies in AI literacy; teaching trainees and lecturers how to use AI as a knowing aid rather than a shortcut.
- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the importance of a balanced technique that keeps human involvement while harnessing AI to enhance finding out outcomes.
"As we browse the rapidly evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is crucial that we prioritise human company in education. We need to guarantee that AI improves, rather than replaces, educators' essential function in forming young minds," he said
Concerns over AI in Learning
Dorcas Akintade, pipewiki.org a cybersecurity improvement specialist, resolved growing concerns regarding the use of synthetic intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their possible dangers to the academic system.
- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, nevertheless, emphasized the requirement for care in its usage.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing resistance among teachers and schools towards incorporating AI tools in learning environments. She identified two primary reasons that AI tools are dissuaded in instructional settings: security threats and plagiarism. She discussed that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to respond based on user interactions, which might not align with the expectations of teachers.
"It is not looking at it as a tutor," Akintade said, describing that AI does not cater to specific teaching approaches.
Plagiarism is another concern, as AI pulls from existing information, often without proper attribution
"A great deal of individuals need to comprehend, like I stated, this is data that has been trained on. It is not just bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing information that some other people are fed into it, which in essence indicates that is another person's documents," she cautioned.
- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early problem in AI advancement known as "hallucination," where AI tools would produce info that was not factual.
"Hallucination indicated that it was highlighting information from the air. If ChatGPT might not get that info from you, it was going to make one up," she explained.
She suggested "grounding" AI by supplying it with particular info to prevent such errors.
Navigating AI in Education
Akintade argued that banning AI tools outright is not the option, especially when AI provides a chance to leapfrog traditional instructional techniques.
- She thinks that regularly reinforcing crucial information assists individuals keep in mind and avoid making mistakes when faced with obstacles.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell people the very same thing over and over once again, when they are about to make the errors, then they'll remember."
She likewise empasized the requirement for clear policies and setiathome.berkeley.edu procedures within schools, keeping in mind that lots of schools need to deal with the people and procedure aspects of this usage.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has turned to in-class tasks and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I generally use assignments to guarantee trainees supply original work." However, he acknowledged that handling big classes makes this technique difficult.
"If you set intricate concerns, students will not have the ability to utilize AI to get direct responses," he discussed.
He highlighted the requirement for universities to train lecturers on crafting examination questions that AI can not easily resolve while acknowledging that some speakers battle to counter AI misuse due to a lack of technological awareness. "Some speakers are analogue," he said.
- Nigeria launched a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI advancement with fairness, openness, accountability, and personal privacy at its core.
in a report requires the regulation of AI in education, recommending organizations to audit algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they satisfy ethical requirements, safeguard user data, and filter improper content.
- It stresses the requirement to assess the long-term impact of AI on important skills like thinking and creativity while producing policies that align with ethical frameworks. Additionally, UNESCO suggests executing age constraints for GenAI use to protect more youthful trainees and safeguard susceptible groups.
- For governments, it encouraged embracing a collaborated national approach to regulating GenAI, including developing oversight bodies and lining up regulations with existing data security and privacy laws. It stresses evaluating AI risks, implementing more stringent guidelines for high-risk applications, and ensuring nationwide data ownership.