Mrs. P.L.N.Randima Rajapaksha
B.Ed. (Hons)(CMB)
Lecturer
Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education
3rd floor, Faculty of Education building
P. L. N. Randima Rajapaksha is a Lecturer in the Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education, Faculty of Education in the Open University of Sri Lanka. Randima completed her Undergraduate and Masters studies in University of Colombo. Her research interests lie in the area of Early Childhood Education, Primary Education, Education Psychology, Guidance and Counseling, Teacher Education and Distance Learning. She has authored nearly 10 research publications including peer interaction, sociodramatic play, expressive language skills in International Conferences. Currently her research interest focuses on Learning through Play, Play in Early Childhood and Self Regulation and Play.
I am working as an academic staff member at early childhood and primary education since 2006
Programme Co-ordination
Certificate in Preschool Education Programme
Course Co-ordination
ESC 1233 Child Psychology, ESC 2315 - Early Childhood Development, ESD 2230 Child Development II, ESD 2235 - Personality Psychology
Area of Specialization Child Psychology, Child Development, Education Psychology, Guidance and Counselling
Research Interests Play in Early Childhood, Preschool Education, Primary School Education, Self regulation in Early Childhood, Early Childhood pedagogy, Peer interaction, Language development in Children
Research Publications
EDUCATIONAL MAGAZINE – LOCAL
1. Randima N. (2012). Piaget’s Theory on Cognitive Development and Cognitive Development of the Pre-school Children. ADEEKSHA, OUSL publication, 3, 50-77, ISSN2012-8150
2. Rajapaksha P.L.N.R. (2013). Play as a method of teaching in preschool, ADEEKSHA, OUSL publication , 4, 170-195, ISSN2012-8150
BOOK CHAPTERS
Ariyaratne A., Rajapaksha P.L.N.R., Munasinghe M., Seneviratne P., Mukunthan T., Deepthini D.D.I., & Chathurika P.R.D. (2014)." Let's Change our minds." Integrating OER in Educational Practice: Practitioner Stories, edited by Shironica Karunanayaka & Som Naidu. 25-46. The Open University of Sri Lanka Publication. ISBN978-955-23-1526-8
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Rajapaksha P.L.N.R, Chathurika D. (2015). Problems faced by preschool teachers when using teaching aids in the teaching learning process. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 2(1), 115-120.
CONFERENCES PROCEEDINGS
1. Rajapaksha P.L.N.R. (2015). Preschool teachers’ use of play based teaching strategies in the teaching learning process. In Piyasiri S, Fernando P, Ekanayaka S, Ranasingha S.C, Gunawardena K, Senerath S, Karunanayaka L, Samarakoon M, Jayaweera P, Nahallage C. (Eds.), Redefining diversity for a new direction: Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Multidisciplinary Approaches conference (pp. 101). Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Sri Jayawardenapura, Sri Lanka.
2. Rajapaksha P.L.N.R. (2015). Promoting peer interaction in preschool children through play. In Goonasekara C.L, Premaratne P.H, Anandawansa B.D.K. (Eds.), Inculcating Professionalism for National Development: Proceedings of 8th International Research Conference (pp. 300). General Sir John Kotalawala Defence University, Ratmalana 10390, Sri Lanka.
3. Rajapaksha, P.L.N.R. (2014). A study on the Observation and practical training sessions of the Certificate in Preschool Education Programme. In Danny Wong, Li K.C & Yuen K.S (Eds.), Advancing open and distance learning: research and practices: Proceedings of 28th Annual Conference of Asian Association of Open Universities (pp. 1000-1009). Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Retrieved from: http://aaou2014.ouhk.edu.hk/proceedings/proceedings.html
4. Ariyaratne A., Munasingha D. M. W., Seneviratne P., Rajapaksha P.L.N.R, Dediwala D. (2014, October 28-31). A study on non-completing students of the certificate in preschool education programme at the Open University of Sri Lanka, In Danny Wong, Li K.C & Yuen K.S (Eds.), Advancing open and distance learning: research and practices: Proceedings of 28th Annual Conference of Asian Association of Open Universities (pp. 126-134). Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Retrieved from: http://aaou2014.ouhk.edu.hk/proceedings/proceedings.html
Ongoing Research
An investigative study on learning environments in preschools in Sri Lanka conducted by the Child Study Centre and funded by the Faculty funds of the Faculty of Education, The Open University of Sri Lanka. (ongoing)
Duties: Preparation of data collection instrument and data collection