Nigerian Students Turn to aI For Tests Answers, Lecturers Raise Alarm
Expert System (AI) is reinventing education while making discovering more available however likewise triggering arguments on its impact.
While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for improving their knowing experience, speakers are raising issues about the growing reliance on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens scholastic stability, specifically with numerous students not able to safeguard their assignments or provided works.
Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a speaker at the University of Lagos, securityholes.science in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed disappointment over the growing reliance on AI-generated actions among students recounting a current experience he had.
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"I offered a task to my MBA students, and out of over 100 students, about 40% sent the precise same answers. These students did not even know each other, however they all utilized the exact same AI tool to create their reactions," he said.
He noted that this trend is common amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate trainees however is especially worrying in part-time and distance learning programs.
"AI is a serious obstacle when it concerns assignments. Many trainees no longer think critically-they just go on the internet, generate responses, and send," he included.
Surprisingly, some lecturers 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 argument raises vital questions about the function of AI in academic integrity and trainee advancement.
According to a UNESCO report, yewiki.org while ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly active users in January 2023, only one country had actually launched guidelines on generative AI since July 2023.
Since December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million people utilizing the AI chatbot every week and 1 billion messages sent every day worldwide.
Decline of academic rigor
University speakers are increasingly concerned about trainees submitting AI-generated assignments without genuinely comprehending the content.
Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, expressed his concerns to Nairametrics about students significantly counting on ChatGPT, only to fight with responding to basic concerns when checked.
"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and submit polished projects, but when asked fundamental concerns, they go blank. It's frustrating due to the fact that education is about learning, not just passing courses," he stated.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu explained that the increasing number of top-notch graduates can not be completely associated to AI but confessed that even high-performing trainees use these tools.
"A top-notch student is a first-rate student, AI or not, however that doesn't indicate they don't cheat. The benefits of AI might be peripheral, but it is making students dependent and less analytical," he said.
- Another speaker, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a different concern that some speakers themselves are guilty of the very same practice.
"It's not simply students using AI lazily. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course describes, marking schemes, and even examination concerns with AI without examining them. Students in turn utilize AI to generate responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine knowing," he regreted.
Students' point of views on use
Students, on the other hand, state AI has improved their learning experience by making academic materials more easy to understand and available.
- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee at Unilag, shared how AI has significantly helped her learning by breaking down complex terms and supplying summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI helped me understand things more easily, specifically when handling intricate topics," she explained.
However, she recalled a circumstances when she used AI to send her job, just for her speaker to immediately recognize that it was produced by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola kept in mind that it was a good-bad effect.
- Bryan Okwuba, who recently finished with a first-class degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, securely thinks that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his exceptional grades to actively engaging by asking questions and accc.rcec.sinica.edu.tw focusing on areas that speakers emphasize in class, as they are often reflected in examination concerns.
"It's everything about being present, taking note, and using the wealth of understanding shared by my associates," he stated,
- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing trainee at UNIZIK, admits to occasionally copying straight from ChatGPT when facing multiple deadlines.
"To be sincere, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have multiple due dates, and I understand I'm guilty of that, a lot of times the lecturers don't get to review them, however AI has likewise assisted me find out much faster."
Balancing AI's role in education
Experts think the option lies in AI literacy; teaching students and lecturers how to use AI as a learning aid rather than a faster way.
- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, highlighted the combination of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the importance of a well balanced approach that preserves human involvement while utilizing AI to enhance learning results.
"As we browse the quickly evolving landscape of Expert system (AI), it is important that we prioritise human agency in education. We need to guarantee that AI boosts, instead of replaces, teachers' important role in shaping young minds," he stated
Concerns over AI in Learning
Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity transformation expert, dealt with growing concerns regarding making use of expert system (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their possible threats to the academic system.
- She acknowledged the advantages of AI, however, stressed the requirement for caution in its use.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance among educators and schools towards incorporating AI tools in discovering environments. She recognized 2 primary factors why AI tools are discouraged in instructional settings: security threats and plagiarism. She described that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to respond based on user interactions, which might not align with the expectations of educators.
"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade stated, describing that AI does not accommodate specific teaching methods.
Plagiarism is another issue, historydb.date as AI pulls from existing information, typically without proper attribution
"A great deal of individuals require to comprehend, 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 means that is another person's paperwork," she cautioned.
- Additionally, an early issue in AI advancement referred to as "hallucination," where AI tools would produce information that was not factual.
"Hallucination implied that it was drawing out information from the air. If ChatGPT could not get that information from you, it was going to make one up," she described.
She advised "grounding" AI by offering it with specific info to prevent such mistakes.
Navigating AI in Education
Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the solution, particularly when AI provides an opportunity to leapfrog traditional educational methods.
- She thinks that regularly enhancing crucial info assists individuals remember and prevent making errors when confronted with difficulties.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you inform people the exact same thing over and over again, when they are about to make the mistakes, then they'll remember."
She likewise empasized the need for clear policies and treatments within schools, noting that numerous schools must address individuals and process elements of this usage.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has turned to in-class projects and tests to counter AI-driven scholastic dishonesty.
"Now, I primarily use assignments to guarantee trainees offer original work." However, he acknowledged that handling big classes makes this approach tough.
"If you set intricate concerns, students will not have the ability to utilize AI to get direct responses," he explained.
He highlighted the requirement for universities to train speakers on crafting examination questions that AI can not quickly fix while acknowledging that some lecturers battle to counter AI abuse due to a lack of technological awareness. "Some lecturers are analogue," he stated.
- Nigeria released a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, concentrating on ethical AI advancement with fairness, transparency, accountability, and personal privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report requires the policy of AI in education, recommending institutions to investigate algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to ensure they fulfill ethical standards, protect user information, and filter unsuitable material.
- It stresses the need to evaluate the long-lasting impact of AI on critical skills like thinking and imagination while producing policies that line up with ethical structures. Additionally, UNESCO recommends carrying out age limitations for GenAI usage to protect younger students and protect vulnerable groups.
- For federal governments, it encouraged adopting a coordinated nationwide approach to regulating GenAI, consisting of developing oversight bodies and aligning regulations with existing information defense and privacy laws. It stresses examining AI dangers, enforcing more stringent rules for high-risk applications, and guaranteeing national information ownership.