EDUCATIONAL UTILISATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS FOR LEARNING: PATTERNS, ETHICS, AND CHALLENGES AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA
Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence Tools, Ethical Compliance, Utilisation Patterns, Challenges of AI, University StudentsAbstract
This study investigated the educational utilisation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for learning among university students in Kwara State, Nigeria, focusing on utilisation patterns, perceived ethical compliance, and associated challenges. The study was motivated by limited institutional guidance on responsible AI use in higher education. A descriptive survey research design was adopted, and 398 undergraduate students were selected through multistage sampling techniques. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire and analysed using mean, standard deviation, and independent-samples t-test at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed high utilisation of AI tools for academic activities such as idea generation, content clarification, research support, and self-assessment. Students indicated relatively high levels of ethical compliance in their use of AI tools; however, lower ratings were observed for adherence to institutional policies and avoidance of overdependence. The findings reflect students’ self-reported perceptions of AI use rather than directly observed behaviour. In addition, institutional and infrastructural constraints were identified as major challenges to responsible AI utilisation. Gender analysis showed no significant differences in utilisation patterns or challenges, but a significant difference was found in awareness of institutional guidelines in favour of male students. The study concludes that while AI tools are widely utilised for learning, strengthened institutional guidelines and targeted AI literacy initiatives are required to promote responsible and effective use of AI tools in higher education. It is recommended that universities redesign assessments to emphasizes higher-order thinking to reduce uncritical AI reliance.
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