...students lacking some pride in their finished product...

Aside from any issue I may have with "pride", I'd be more apt (given this story true) to believe that a sense of pride would create a composition like that... non-conformist (to say the least), of course.

...but why can't we all learn from each other and share our wealth of knowledge, for the good of all mankind??

Because pride has imbedded itself into society so deeply that the *laws say one can "own knowledge".