It is my pleasure to present the published Proceedings of the Annual Academic Sessions, 2014 of The Open University of Sri Lanka. The research findings accepted for presentation at the Annual Academic Sessions on 27th and 28th November are published in this volume.
The extended abstracts published in the Proceedings of the Academic Sessions 2014 are the work of researchers from both within and outside the Open University. This year, 130 extended abstracts were received, of which 90 research papers were accepted for presentation, after a peer review process. As in previous years, the papers presented in this year’s Academic Sessions include Open and Distance Learning (ODL) studies as well as research and development in a wide variety of contemporary topics relating to Natural Sciences, Engineering, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences. The proceedings published in this volume are classified into 12 areas as shown in the contents and reflect the diverse range of the accepted research papers. It is my firm belief that the initiative taken by the Open University to make the Academic Sessions an annual event in the university calendar has contributed to strengthen the research and development activities of the university, and thereby contributing to the national development of Sri Lanka.
On behalf of the Senate Sub-Committee, I take this opportunity to thank the authors of the research studies for their valuable contribution and cooperation in preparing and finalizing the extended abstracts within the given time frame. Our sincere thanks go to the 287 referees who reviewed the extended abstracts with utmost care. We are also grateful to the panel of reviewers, who spent their valuable time to evaluate the research publications for the “Annual Research Awards – 2013”. The Senate Sub-Committee wishes to acknowledge the team of language editors from the Department of Language Studies and Postgraduate Institute of English of the Open University of Sri Lanka. The secretarial assistance given by Miss. Achini Kandana Arachchi and Miss. Nayana Wijesinghe and Mr. Priyantha Nawarathne for Desktop Publishing of the Proceeding is especially appreciated. On behalf of the Sub-Committee I express my gratitude to the cooperation extended by the staff of the OUSL Press in printing this volume, staff of the Deputy Registrar’s (Academic) office and all others who helped us in numerous ways to successfully organize the OUSL Annual Academic Sessions, 2014.
The active participation and contribution of all members of the Senate Sub-Committee was essential for organizing the Academic Sessions and I sincerely thank the 2014 team for all their efforts and the support extended to me as the Chair. My best wishes for intellectually stimulating and productive deliberations at the Annual Academic Sessions, 2014.
Professor Kolita Weerasekera
Chairman, Senate Sub-Committee on Annual Academic Sessions – 2014
