1^st Conference 2005

The Inaugural SLAIHEE Conference was held on the 31st March 2005 at the University of Colombo from 9.30am to 4.00pm. It was organized jointly with the Staff Development Centre of the University of Colombo. The Conference Theme was Teaching to Put Students First.
Proceedings were conducted by Professor Suki Ekaratne, Director of the Staff Development Centre of the University of Colombo. Concurrent conference sessions were chaired by Dr Nilukshi Abeyasinghe, Ms. Shrinika Weerakoon, Professor Suki Ekaratne and Mr. Chandana Dissanayake.

The Keynote was delivered by Dr. Liz Beaty, Director / Learning & Teaching of the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE).Other addresses were delivered by the following;

• The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Professor Tilak Hettiarachchy
• The Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Dr. Tara de Mel
• The Chairman of the University Grants Commission, Professor Ranjith Mendis

The titles of these oral presentations that were delivered, and posters that were displayed below.

Oral presentations were titled as follows;

1. The Application of Constructive Alignment for Enhancing Learning Performance of a Group of Potential University Entrants: A Case with the Presidents? Guide Award by T.R. Liyanasuriya.
2. Correlation between Continuous and Final Assessment Marks in a Student-centred Restructured Curriculum by U.D. Mahamithawa, D.S.G. Mettananda, M.P. Senanayake & S.P. Lamabadusuriya.
3. Facilitating Learning Improvement in students of the Colombo Medical Faculty through Interventional Mechanisms adopted by medical faculty staff by W.S.S. Wijesundera.
4. Achieving Higher Order Cognitive Skills through Student-centered Learning in Teaching Data Analysis to Undergraduates by P. Dias.
5. Nurturing Undergraduates? Skill Development through Internship Programmes: The Case for its inclusion in an Effective Strategy by P.D.C. Udayashantha & K.A.N. Dilhani.
6. Enhancement of Student Inclusivity and Constructive Alignment in Teaching Safety and Health through the Factory Visit Method by G.D.N. Perera & K.A.C. Chandrika.
7. Congruity Analysis of Bloom?s Taxonomy with Curriculum Design for courses in Management Studies & Commerce, University of Sri Jayewardenepura by K.H.H. Kumara, B.R.M.N. Ratnayake, & M.A.S. Malkanthie.
8. Impact of Learning Styles on Student Performance at the Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Sri Jayewardenepura by D.M. Wedage, P.D.H.D. Gunathilake, Y.M.S.K. Weerakoon.
9. Developing Employability Skills in Students: A Case for Using Presentations as a Strategy by Y.M.S.K. Weerakoon.
10. Student Feedback as a Mechanism to Improve Reflective Practice in Students from Multiple Disciplines and Universities by Y.M.S.K. Weerakoon.
11. Teaching to Put Students First: Identifying Skills and Approaches for Future University Development Strategies by D. Kottahachchy.
12. From Lecturers to Excellent Teachers: Preliminary Results in Evaluating Scholarly Capacity of Humanities and Social Science Lecturers in Sri Lankan Universities by S.N. Gamage.
13. Enhancing Achievement of Learning Outcomes in Training Medical Students to Compile Medico-legal Reports through Activities in the Medico-legal Module by N. Abeyasinghe.
14. A First Round Study into using Lesson Plans to Promote Development of Student Skills Effectively by A.K. Wickramasooriya.
15. Learning to Identify and Practice Methods to Improve Effective Teaching in Higher Education by A. Senathirajah.
16. A Preliminary Study of Training Needs for Effective Distance Teaching and Learning based on Teachers? and Students? Perceptions of required skills by B.G. Jayatillake.
17. Peer Lecturing and Evaluation: A successful method for enhancing student presentation skills and deep learning by K.K.D.S. Ranaweera.
18. Evaluating the validity of an assessment method for Undergraduate Seminar Presentations by N. Sivayogan.

The abstracts are listed in the SLAIHEE News Letter Volume 4, July 2007.

Poster presentations

1. Improving the Quality of Learning by Teaching through Incomplete Handouts by A.S. Adikaram, K.O.D.S. Karunanayake, S. Kesavan, P.A.D.E. Kodituwakku, K.P. Nishantha & B.A.U. Senaratne.
2. Identification of Student Employable Skills and Staff training needs in Biological Science Study Programme, University of Ruhuna by K.R. Gamage & H.C.E. Wegiriya.