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

Student attitudes towards intellectual property
Areas for development
Based on this survey of students, a number
of recommendations can be made for areas
for future development in IP delivery in FE
and HE institutions.
The focus on plagiarism within
academic institutions is amply
demonstrated by students’ responses about
IP topics currently, and previously, taught.
This narrow focus has clearly helped to
raise the profile of IP, but to date has not
been capitalised on to promote other
aspects of IP teaching of practical
application to students.
As a result, students do not perceive a
strong link between IP and commercial
success (and failure). Where appropriate,
IP, and its practical applications could
be linked more closely to commercial
aspects of courses.
Although students are most likely to
approach their lecturers for help with IP
issues, only half believed academics to be
well-informed about this topic. This
indicates a need for:
i. improving awareness
among academic staff of
all aspects of IP and its
significance for students’
future careers
ii. better support for
academics in delivering IP
iii. information for students
on alternative resources
for more specialist queries.
Where courses do have an IP component,
assessment is currently limited. There is,
therefore, a need for further guidance
about appropriate assessment of IP
(other than plagiarism) as part of FE/HE
courses.
This survey has also demonstrated that
there is currently limited awareness and
usage of Knowledge Transfer Offices (or
similar institutional departments) among
students. There is, therefore, an
opportunity to raise awareness and
promote more effective use of
Knowledge Transfer Offices and other
services in the context of IP education.
Areas for further research
While the research presented in this report
is an important contribution to the poorlyunderstood
issue of student attitudes
towards, and understanding of IP, further
work is needed to build on this and create a
reliable research base in this field, including
different methodologies, work with a
variety of stakeholders and ongoing
longitudinal studies. Some options for
future research are outlined below:
1. A qualitative study with students to
investigate some of the complex issues
raised in greater depth, for example:
• The impact of teaching at primary
and secondary level on knowledge
and attitudes towards IP at FE/HE
level
40