AWARENESS DOWN TO PRACTICE:

Abstract

The rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education has reshaped how preservice teachers learn, prepare, and engage with academic tasks. Despite its benefits, concerns about ethical usage, such as academic integrity, transparency, and responsible engagement, continue to grow. A key issue is whether awareness of AI ethics translates into ethical practices among preservice teachers. This study investigates the relationship between AI ethics awareness and ethical usage in two selected universities. Using a quantitative predictive correlational design, the study involves preservice teachers across all academic levels selected through convenience sampling. Data were gathered using a structured 5-point Likert-scale questionnaire to get information on preservice teachers' level of AI ethics awareness and Ethical usage. It was validated using both face and content validity. The reliability coefficient gave 0.78 using Cronbach alpha. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression to determine levels, relationships, and predictive influence among variables. The study is expected to provide insight into whether awareness of AI ethics is sufficient to promote responsible AI use among future teachers and to highlight implications for strengthening ethical AI integration within teacher education programmes and institutional policy frameworks.