MANAGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RELATED LEARNING APATHY AMONG BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS IN SELECTED COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN NORTH-EAST NIGERIA

There is increasing fear that unregulated integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into Business Education students’ learning within colleges of education could result in excessive student over dependence on AI with a potential negative implication on their critical thinking and independent problem-solving abilities. This study empirically explores the prevalence of over reliance on AI chatbots among students and strategies adopted by business education lecturers to enhance active learning and reflective thinking. A descriptive survey design was adopted. Data were collected from 72 drawn form a population of 86 lecturers of Business Education departments in Federal college of Education (Technical) Gombe and College of Education Zing, Taraba State. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. Findings reveal that lecturers observed a high reliance of students on AI enabled tools for direct answers often without deep content understanding and independent problem-solving initiatives. Although lecturers are beginning to adopt blended learning models and alternative assessment strategies like oral presentation, the efforts are constrained by insufficient institutional support and absence of policies and guidelines regulating academic utilization of AI technologies. The study recommends a transition from knowledge-based to design-based learning, development of AI-responsive assessment frameworks and continuous professional development training to build business education students’ capacity for AI-integrated instruction.