Browsing by Author "Gunarathna, M."

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Do the students evaluate correctly A case Study: Faculty of Social Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
(Research Symposium 2009 - Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2009) Kalnsooriya, J.; Gunarathna, M.; Ramanayaka, N.; Nayanananda, W.
Universities are predominantly engaged in two activities - Teaching and Research. Teaching is defined as disseminating of knowledge and research is defined as generating knowledge. Both activities are equally important. There is a lot of criticism from several quarters on the passive role played by the Universities in Sri Lanka with regard to teaching and research. The private sector which provides most of the job opportunities for the graduates who pass out from the university are not satisfied with their quality. The primary objective of the university apart from teaching is to carry out research. But the national universities are not satisfied with their research contribution. There are several criticisms leveled at the graduates recently produced by the national universities. The critics’ question about the application of skills and the evaluation of skills of the graduates. Others argue that their English proficiency is low and their lack of computer literacy. The criticisms made by these groups are still valid with regard to the graduates in the Arts stream. Today it seems that there is a kind of threat or competition to the National Education System (NES). Here is an alternative educational system developed by the private sector from primary education to basic degree and postgraduate education. The huge demand and the profitability in the education sector may be strengthened further from such a development. The criticism on national university education may have got some backing support to increase the demand of the private sector opportunities. The criticism against the university education has been taken into consideration by the interested authorities. In finding solutions one can identify two problems namely lack of proficiency of English and lack of computer literacy. Generally, it can be argued that making graduands acquainted with skills to match the outside demand is the solution for this problem. Universities are not bound to generate a work force for the companies whether they are public or private. Universities make men/women to serve the nation with analytical knowledge. In this research, this category of group is named as Conventional School (CS). In this scenario, it is very important to understand clearly the problem at first and then arrive at solutions appropriately since it is tightly connected with the NES. We have to consider whether group one or two or both criticisms are correct. Which group MS or CS has made close solutions to reality? These are the problems discussed in this study.
Do the Students Evaluate Correctly: A case study, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2009) Jayantha, K.; Gunarathna, M.; Ramanayaka, N.; Nayanananda, W.
Universities are predominantly engaged in two activities: teaching and research. Teaching is defined as dissemination of knowledge and research is defined as generating knowledge. Both activities are equally important. There is lot of criticism from several quarters on the passive role played by the universities in Sri Lanka with regard to teaching and research. The private sector which provides most of job opportunities for the graduates who pass out from university are not satisfied with their quality. The primary objective of the university apart from teaching is to carry out research. But the national universities are not satisfies with their research contribution. There are several criticisms levels of the graduates recently produced by the national universities. The critics’ questioned about the application of skills and the evaluation of skills of the graduates. Others argue that their English proficiency is low and their lack of computer literacy. The criticisms made by these groups are still valid with regard to the graduates in the Art Stream. Today it seems that there is kind of threat or competition to the National Education System (NES). Here is an Alternative Education System (AES) developed by the private sector from primary education to basic degree and postgraduate education. The huge demand and the profitability in the education sector may be strengthened further from such a development. The criticism on national university education may have got some backing support to increase the demand of the private sector opportunities. The criticism against the university education has been taken in to consideration by the interested authorities. In finding solutions one can identify two problems namely lack of proficiency of English and lack of computer literacy. Generally, it can be argued that making graduands acquainted with skills to match the outside demand is the solution for this problem. Universities are not bound to generate a workforce for companies whether they are public or private. Universities make men/women to serve the nation with analytical knowledge. In this research, this category of group is named as conventional School (CS). In this scenario, it is very important to understand clearly the problem at first and then arrive at solutions appropriately since it is tightly connected with the NES. We have to consider whether group one or two or both criticisms are correct. Which group MS or CS has made close solutions to reality? These are the problems discussed in this study. This study argues that to build an ideal graduate the teaching and evaluation process should be reconciled to each other and they should gradually go up to a high level of skills. The Bloom’s taxonomy was used to evaluate the student evaluation process of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Question papers related to the first semester of the academic year 2007/2008 were evaluated. The surveys cover all the departments in the faculty and papers at all levels and course unite were considered. The results proved that the process of evaluation is poor; in some areas the standards of the questions set did not pass the first of second stage of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Obstacles against the Tourism Development as an Instrument of Poverty Alleviation
(Department of Economics, University of Kelaniya, 2016) Gunarathna, M.; Janice L.H.; Chan, J.K.L.
The article describes the negative impact of poverty alleviation in tourism of Sri Lanka based on secondary and time series data that were gathered by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority from 1968 to 2014. Additionally, secondary data from Department of Census and Statistics in Sri Lanka and Central Bank of Sri Lanka were employed in the study to examine the key objective. The key objective is to discover potential obstacles against the tourism development as an instrument of poverty alleviation while reviewing the research question that how to improve poverty elimination via tourism development. Pearson correlation analysis and descriptive analysis are used. The study suites two suppositions to accomplish the above mentioned objective focusing empirical evidences. Firstly, there are obstacles to develop tourism industry in Sri Lanka. Secondly, the obstacles affect poverty alleviation via tourism development in Sri Lanka. However, findings of this study reveal that significant relationship between tourism development and poverty alleviation has being damaged by obstacles. We conclude that tourism is a proper instrument to move out from poverty and disparity and suggest that potential obstacles should be managed via tourism development strategies. Therefore this study stimulates for policy makers to refer the present tourism policy and add alternative solutions to unfold issues in Sri Lankan rural tourism industry. Significance of this study is not limited to Sri Lanka and under the limitations; findings, suggestions and conclusions of the study can be utilized to develop rural tourism based national plan in developing world.
Open economy in a tense situation; Sri Lanka’s experiences
(University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom, 2007) Gunarathna, M.
Paradox of the Indian Economy
(Academic Staff College (ASC), Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, 2004) Hettiarachchi, U.; Gunarathna, M.
Queue and efficiency in Multi-Purpose Co-operative society in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2008) Gunarathna, M.
Students participation in sporting activities Case Study of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
(Research Symposium 2009 - Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2009) Perea, B.L.H.; Kalnsooriya, J.; Gunarathna, M.; Ramanayaka, N.
The University spends annually a considerable amount of their funds for the development of sport facilities. The amount spent on sport facilities has to be evaluated by comparing the total spent with the number of students participating in sport activities. This condition indicates a variety of indicators. The administrators state that the students are engaged in activities other than sports and the existing facilities are under utilized. Time restrictions arising from the existing academic schedule also affects the participation of students in sports. This kind of poor participation in sport activities by students cannot be ignored as the current undergraduates are the future human resources of the nation. It has to be emphasized that physical and mental well being is a fundamental factor. As such it is very important to have a closer look at this demand and supply mismatch and which leads to fulfill the objectives of the university. Data were collected for the study via a questionnaire which consists of closed questions. Data were gathered by the students following sport management module from the undergraduates who are engaged in sport activities at the Physical Education Division. All respondents in the sample (n = 400) were as being full-time students. Out of them 73%, 16.5%, 20.5% are represented in the streams of Arts, Science and Commerce and 58.8%, 19.0%, 14.3%, 8.0% level 1 to 4 undergraduates respectively. Through the structured questionnaire information on 8 motivating factors for participation in sport activities were evaluated. Reasons given for participating in sport activities are varied and different in the case of each individual.
Students Participation in Sporting Activities: A case study, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2009) Perera, B.L.H.; Jayantha, K.; Gunarathna, M.; Ramanayaka, N.
The University spends annually a considerable amount of their funds for the development of sport facilities. The amount spent on sport facilities has to be evaluated by comparing total spent with the number of students participating sporting activities. This condition indicates a verity of indicators. The administrators’ states that the students are engaged in activities other than sports and the existing facilities are underutilized. Time restrictions arising from the existing academic schedule also affects the participation of students in sports. This kind of poor participation in sports activities by students cannot be ignored as the current undergraduates are the future human resources of the nation. It has to be emphasized that physical and mental well-being is a fundamental factor. As such it is very important to have a closer look at this demand and supply mismatch and which leads to fulfill the objectives of the university. Data were collected for the study via a questionnaire which consists of closed questions. Data were gathered by the students following sport management module from the undergraduates who are engaged in sport activities at the Physical Education Division. All respondents in the sample (n=400) were being full-time students. Out of them 73%, 16.5%, 20.5% are represented in the stream of Arts, Science and Commerce and 58.8%, 19.0%, 14.3%, 8.0% level 1 to 4 undergraduates respectively. Through the structured questionnaire information on eight motivating factors for participation in sport activities were evaluated. Reasons given for participating in sport activities were varied and different in the case of each individual.
A study on International Tourist Satisfaction along with Service Quality Dimensions for Railway transport service (With special reference to Colombo- Kandy Railway transport service in Sri Lanka)
(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Kahatapitiya, D.; Gunarathna, M.
Quality of any service is a very important factor of measuring Customer satisfaction. Foreign tourist’s satisfaction in the transport service in Sri Lanka especially in the Colombo- Kandy railway service is imporatnt to discuss, because if the quality of Sri Lanka Railway Transport Service is increased, its productivity, profitability would enhance. The SERVQUAL model including five dimensions; tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, empathy and assurance were used to measure the passenger satisfaction considering the services provided by the Sri Lanka Railway Transport Service (SLRTS) and ow it can be improved? Study was carried out based on two research questions, main question being “What are the influencing factors of the service quality which determines the tourist satisfaction in Sri Lanka railway transport service?” The other two subsidiary questions are, “What is the relationship between service quality and international tourist satisfaction based on Colombo Kandy Railway?” and “What are the current facilities, benefits of using SLRTS and how it can be developed? Findings indicated when considering the Service Quality dimensions separately the results showed that all Service Quality dimensions were significantly and positively correlated with customer satisfaction. Factors used to measure service quality are safety, physical quality of train, information about timetable, physical design of station, travel time/delay, frequency of departures, ticket system, price level, performance and reliability, connectivity, inquiries/complaints, appreciation of travel speed and time, accessibility, information and environmental impact.
Tourists’ Satisfaction and intention to revisit of International Tourists (With special reference to Galle)
(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Kodithuwakku, D.; Gunarathna, M.
This study aims to investigate the international tourists’ satisfaction and intention to revisit in Galle tourism destination, in Sri Lanka. Satisfaction is one of the most relevant variable when analyzing tourists’ behavior. Because it influence the choice of destination, the consumption of product and services and the decision to return. Tourists’ satisfaction is based on the comparison of visitors’ pre travel expectations and images about the destination and their post-travel experiences at the destination. Consumer satisfaction can be seen as a relationship between the costs of what the consumers spend and the benefit they expected. Price, benefits, time, and effort are major factors in determining satisfaction. Since accurate data about the population in these international tourists revisit is not available, the sample of this study was collected via on-site surveys. With the intention of collecting a representative sample of tourists, the on-site survey was conducted on both weekdays and weekends. In addition, in order to survey a maximum number of diverse visitors over a relatively small period of time, questionnaire was distribute to participants who are systematically select from the study area. Furthermore, a systematic sampling procedure is use for data collection of this study and the sample size is 200. Findings show that international tourists have different levels and areas of satisfaction with Galle tourism destination, where have higher satisfaction with cultural heritage experience, hotel services, Shopping Prices and friendly attitude and hospitality of local people toward international tourists.