Knowledge sharing patterns of undergraduate students

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the knowledge-sharing patterns of undergraduate students in public and private universities. Design/methodology/approach - A questionnaire survey was conducted on students of both the types of universities in Malaysia. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Findings - Seven important areas have been the focus of this study: the general attitude towards knowledge sharing; preferred sources for study-related tasks; perceived frequency of knowledge sharing for study-related tasks; types of information and knowledge shared; preferred channels for knowledge sharing; factors limiting knowledge sharing; and knowledge sharing motivators. The data collected from 423 undergraduate students suggest that there are differences between the students in the public and private universities when it comes to knowledge sharing patterns. Research limitations/implications - The paper serves more as a descriptive study on the knowledge sharing patterns rather than a correlational study to find the relationship among variables. Practical implications - The findings suggest that group activities should be structured in all curricula in order to encourage sharing among students. Academics are expected to play an important role to encourage their students to share by means of putting emphasis on collaborative learning to reduce competition among students. The management of universities can promote knowledge sharing by understanding the barriers and motivators of knowledge sharing. Originality/value - The paper is among the first to compare the knowledge sharing patterns among private and public undergraduate students in Malaysia.