1 Nigerian Students Turn to aI For Tests Answers, Lecturers Raise Alarm
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing education while making finding out more available but also triggering debates on its impact.

While trainees hail AI tools like ChatGPT for improving their learning experience, speakers are raising issues about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic integrity, particularly with numerous students unable to safeguard their projects or offered works.

Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, menwiki.men a lecturer at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed aggravation over the growing reliance on AI-generated reactions amongst students stating a current experience he had.

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"I offered a task to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 trainees, about 40% sent the precise same answers. These students did not even know each other, but they all used the same AI tool to produce their reactions," he stated.

He noted that this pattern is prevalent among both undergraduate and postgraduate students but is particularly concerning in part-time and distance learning programs.

"AI is a major obstacle when it comes to projects. Many trainees no longer think critically-they just browse the web, create answers, and submit," he included.

Surprisingly, some lecturers are also implicated of over-relying on AI, setting a cycle where both teachers and students turn to AI for benefit rather than intellectual rigor.

This dispute raises critical concerns about the function of AI in academic stability and student development.

According to a UNESCO report, suvenir51.ru while ChatGPT reached 100 million regular monthly active users in January 2023, only one nation had actually released regulations on generative AI since July 2023.

As of December 2024, ChatGPT had over 300 million individuals utilizing the AI chatbot weekly and 1 billion messages sent every day around the world.

Decline of scholastic rigor

University lecturers are progressively concerned about students sending AI-generated projects without truly comprehending the material.

Dr. Felix Echekoba, a speaker at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his concerns to Nairametrics about trainees significantly counting on ChatGPT, just to deal with answering fundamental questions when tested.

"Many students copy from ChatGPT and submit sleek assignments, but when asked fundamental questions, they go blank. It's frustrating due to the fact that education is about discovering, not just passing courses," he stated.

- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing variety of first-class graduates can not be entirely credited to AI however admitted that even high-performing students use these tools.
"A first-rate student is a first-rate student, AI or not, but that doesn't indicate they don't cheat. The benefits of AI may be peripheral, but it is making trainees reliant and less analytical," he said.

- Another speaker, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a various concern that some lecturers themselves are guilty of the exact same practice.
"It's not just trainees utilizing AI slackly. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, create lesson notes, course lays out, marking plans, and even exam concerns with AI without examining them. Students in turn utilize AI to create responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is killing genuine learning," he regreted.

Students' perspectives on usage

Students, on the other hand, say AI has enhanced their knowing experience by making academic materials more easy to understand and accessible.

- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee at Unilag, shared how AI has actually considerably assisted her knowing by breaking down complex terms and supplying summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI helped me understand things more easily, specifically when handling intricate subjects," she described.

However, she remembered an instance when she used AI to send her project, just for her lecturer to immediately recognize that it was created by ChatGPT and reject it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad effect.

- Bryan Okwuba, who just recently graduated with a top-notch degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, photorum.eclat-mauve.fr securely believes that his academic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his impressive grades to actively engaging by asking concerns and focusing on locations that lecturers stress in class, utahsyardsale.com as they are often shown in exam concerns.
"It's all about being present, paying attention, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my colleagues," he stated,

- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, admits to sometimes copying straight from ChatGPT when dealing with multiple due dates.
"To be truthful, there are times I copy directly from ChatGPT when I have numerous deadlines, and I know I'm guilty of that, the majority of times the lecturers don't get to check out them, but AI has also helped me discover faster."

Balancing AI's role in education

Experts think the solution depends on AI literacy