Abstract
This study examines the role of artificial intelligence in Nigeria education system. Artificial intelligence is an expert system that helps in the delivery of lessons and Instructional Materials content in classrooms. It observed that the forms of Educational Technology applied in Nigerian classrooms are medieval; and advocated for modern enlightenment on the delivery of Instructional Materials content. Available studies have concentrated on the impact of ICT and Expert systems on academic performance of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Education without considering the practical use of Artificial Intelligence systems on the performance of teachers’ duties. Instructional materials are not readily updated in any prescribed knowledgebase and cheaply available for the students to procure; and the periods used by Teachers to deliver the materials to students are constrained by human factors of weakness, time and expertise. Therefore the key issue is the application of Artificial Intelligence as a substitute for tutoring, especially when the teacher is sick, tired or not available to deliver his course contents.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- Background of the study
Artificial Intelligence has the potential to greatly improve and change education systems across the world. There is a strong possibility for artificial intelligence to be used to help teachers effectively streamline their instruction process and to help students receive more personalised help that is specifically suited to their strengths and weaknesses. (Punch newspaper 2020). In today's context we are immersed in a society that is increasingly oriented towards the process of mass technification. From time to time, and with enormous advances, all the sectors that structure it are, to a certain extent, being submitted in some cases or adapting in others to the advances of technology and, according to their level of development reached, adapting to such an inevitable trend. Instructional materials are the devices developed or acquired to assist or facilitate teachers in transmitting organized knowledge, skills and attitudes to the learners within an instructional situation (Nwachukwu, 2006). Teachers use different instructional materials to motivate learning. Teachers often make use of textbooks, charts, models, graphics, realia as well as improvised materials (Awotua-Efebo, 2001). The success in the skill and knowledge acquisition in an instructional situation depends on the suitability of the instructional material, adequacy and effective utilization of the available materials (Olaitan & Agusiobo, 2014). Also, the relevance of instructional materials to the objective of the lesson and the ease of use of the instructional materials are serious considerations in instructional materials utilization to better the learner’s performance. The contents of instructional materials according to Corcoran & Goertz (2015) are the knowledge expected to be inculcated into the students after the class. Ibe (2018) outlined the utilization procedures that the teachers should follow in using instructional materials to deliver this knowledge to students and summarized them as previewing the materials, preparing the environment, preparing the audience and finally presenting the materials. However, the content and practice of education have grown into the utility of Artificial Intelligence mechanism just like Cohen , Kulik & kulik (1982) noted that a great deal of cognitive change in the school system could be made possible through the use of audio-visuals such as chart, tape recorder, radio and television programmes, pictures and programmed materials.Beal (2013) opined that: With the advent in Artificial Intelligence Innovations, the limitations which majority of Computer Aided Instruction suffered in the time past like; (i) an inability to conduct conversations with the student in the student’s natural language; (ii) an inability to understand the subject being taught, thus being unable to accept un- anticipated responses; (iii) an inability to decide what should be taught next; (iv) an inability to anticipate, diagnose, and understand the student’s mistakes and misconceptions; (v) an inability to improve or modify current teaching strategies or learn new ones, have been addressed within major research areas of Artificial Intelligence, such as natural language understanding, voice recognition, pattern recognition, problem solving, knowledge representation, planning, expert systems, simulation and learning. Therefore, providing teachers with robotic assistance in learner diagnoses, instructional materials delivery and assessment of learning difficulties are now the major application roles of Artificial Intelligence in education. The major concern of this paper is the employment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques in the classroom as to effectively support teachers in the delivery of Instructional materials; and enhance education and learning in Nigeria.
- STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The right applications of AI can result in students having a vastly more detailed and substantial education, as AI programme can do way more to identify and target their individual strengths and weaknesses, and teachers can be aided by AI in order to have a larger amount of impactful teaching time with their students. Overall, education systems all over the world stand to greatly benefit from the proper integration of artificial intelligence in their schools. Due to the wide deployment of AI technology (in areas such as healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, agriculture, Smart Cities, education amongst others) that has already initiated the transformation of our societies, the emergence of ethical, legal and social challenges around their use has led to a collective debate on the potential positive and negative impact of AI, and if we can indeed allow these systems to occupy human roles. Hence, this research study aims to dissect AI, its role in improving Nigeria education system.
- OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The study has one main objective which is sub-divided into general and specific objective. The general objective is to examine the role of artificial intelligence in Nigeria education system, but the specific objectives are;
- To examine the role of artificial intelligence in improving Nigeria education system
- To ascertain if there is any significant relationship between artificial intelligence and academic performance of student
- To examine the role of artificial intelligence in improving the quality of teaching in Nigeria education system
- To proffer suggested solution to the identified problem
- RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study;
- Does artificial intelligence play any role in improving Nigeria education system?
- Is there any significant relationship between artificial intelligence and academic performance of student?
- Does artificial intelligence play any role in improving the quality of teaching in Nigeria education system?
- RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study;
H0: There is no significant relationship between artificial intelligence and academic performance of student
H1: There is a significant relationship between artificial intelligence and academic performance of student
- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of great importance the federal ministry of education as the study will aid them in formulation of policies that will revolutionized the Nigeria education system. The study will also be of great importance to researchers who intend to embark on a study in a similar topic as the findings of this study will be a pathfinder to further study. The study will also be of great importance to students, teachers, researchers, academia’s and the general public as the study will add to the pool of existing literature on the subject matter and also contribute to knowledge on the subject matter.
- SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The scope of the study covers the role of artificial intelligence in Nigeria education system. In the course of the study, there are some factors that limit the scope of the study;
Time constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work.
Inadequate Materials: Scarcity of material is also another hindrance. The researcher finds it difficult to in accessing all the required material which could contribute immensely to the success of this research work.
Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
- OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. Specific applications of AI include expert systems, natural language processing, speech recognition and machine vision
Education system
Education system” includes all institutions which are concerned with the education of children, young persons and adults, in particular preschool/Kindergarten, preschool/nursery school, primary school, lower secondary school, vocational upper secondary school, general upper secondary school or Gymnasium
Education
Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, morals, beliefs, and habits.
1.9 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows
Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance or the study, research methodology, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlight the theoretical framework on which the study its based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding. Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.
