Student attitudes towards intellectual property - National Union of ...

Student attitudes towards intellectual property
design rights and trade marks were most
like to believe this was important. Those
who had not learned about IP previously
were less likely to feel this was important
than those who had studied IP in the past,
particularly at A/AS or primary level. Those
who had studied IP before were also more
likely to believe knowing about IP was
important in order to pass their course
assessment at the same high statistical
significance level (0.01).
When it came to appreciating the
importance of IP knowledge in order to
exploit ideas commercially, current and
prior learning about IP, and subject studied,
appeared to be influential factors. Students
who had studied designs, design rights and
trade marks on their current course were
most likely to see this as important, while
those who had been taught about
plagiarism, or not studied any aspects of IP,
were least likely. Those who had studied IP
prior to their current course were also more
likely to see the possibility of commercial
exploitation as important, as were those
currently studying technologies,
engineering and business. For each of
these three variables, there was evidence
of a relationship at a high statistical
significance level (0.01).
Students were also asked about the
importance they attributed to learning
about IP generally during their time in
education. 82% thought it was important
or very important. Only 3% thought it was
unimportant.
Around the same figure, 80%, felt that
knowing about IP was important for their
future career.
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