Developing and Using the Academic Dishonesty Awareness Questionnaire (ADAQ-35)
Keywords:
Academic Dishonesty Awareness Questionnaire (ADAQ-35) Awareness, Undergraduates, Academic DishonestyAbstract
Academic honesty is the ethical foundation of academia, requiring students to uphold integrity in their academic practices. However, many students violate these principles, often due to a lack of understanding of academic dishonesty. Regardless of the reasons, maintaining academic integrity is essential, and any breach is unacceptable. However, there is limited research on undergraduate students' awareness of academic dishonesty in the context of Shaheed Benazirabad, and a comprehensive, validated instrument to measure this awareness was lacking. This study aimed to address this gap by developing and utilizing the Academic Dishonesty Awareness Questionnaire (ADAQ-35) to assess undergraduate students' awareness of academic dishonesty. Awareness was examined across seven sub-areas: Fabrication, Falsification, Academic Sabotage, Disruptive Conduct, Deception, Collusion, and Plagiarism. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted using a quantitative approach. The sample included 263 final-year undergraduates (SBBU: 228, SBBUVAS: 35), selected through proportionate stratified sampling. Data were collected via the self-developed Academic Dishonesty Awareness Questionnaire (ADAQ-35) and analyzed using SPSS to calculate percentages, frequencies, and applying t-tests. Findings revealed that ADAQ-35 is a valid and reliable instrument to measure awareness about Academic Dishonesty and overall awareness of respondents about academic dishonesty was 25.37%. Independent t-tests showed no significant differences in awareness based on university or gender. Based on these findings, researchers should use ADAQ-35 to measure awareness about Academic Dishonesty and universities should establish academic integrity centers to enhance students' understanding of academic honesty.
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