Technology Transfer in the Global Economy SPS5015

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Social and Political Sciences
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

This course examines the concept of technology transfer, focusing on how it has taken place in recent decades, how it has been shaped by the emergence of large and multinational enterprise, and how it operates in the global economy today.

Timetable

Depending on enrolment, this class is taught either in ten lectures with ten associated seminars, or in ten two hour sessions which include both the lecture and seminar.

Requirements of Entry

2.1 Honours degree or equivalent. Please note this course is offered subject to staff availability.

Assessment

Two written assignments, testing different skills to show command of the course ILOs:

Groupwork Assignment (4000 words) (ILOs 2, 3 and 4) - 40%

One essay (3000 words) (ILO 1, 3 and 4) - 60%

Course Aims

This course aims to introduce participants to key debates, analytical categories, and approaches useful for understanding technology transfer in the context of global economic and social change. Students will be introduced to historiographical and contemporary debates about technological development and technology transfer and taught to recognise critical analysis in literature and supported to develop their own skills in critical analysis.

The course also aims to enable students to distinguish between different kinds of historical and contemporary evidence, including sources, data and different kinds of academic and non-academic literature, and will provide students an opportunity to develop broader analytical and inter-disciplinary skills through the use and interpretation of statistical data sets and other primary material. The coursework is designed to support development in academic analysis and reflection, writing, and debate as well as leadership, team working and discussion.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Critically assess the role of technology transfer in the international spread of industry and knowledge across contexts

• Broadly evaluate how market, national and other structures and systems, including intellectual property protections, affect the costs and successful adoption of technology

• Critically evaluate primary material, notably statistical data sets and official publications

• Work effectively in small groups to interrogate and handle a mixture of primary and secondary sources and/or data.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components of the course's summative assessment.