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U n i v e r s i t y of P e r a d e n i y a

The Institutional Repository of the University of Peradeniya is the University's digital gateway to scholarly knowledge and research excellence. Established as the next phase of the Digital Library initiative launched by the University Library in 2011, it preserves, showcases, and provides open access to the intellectual output of the University community.

Through a rich collection of research articles, conference proceedings, theses, dissertations, and other scholarly works, the repository enhances the visibility, accessibility, and long-term preservation of knowledge, extending the global reach and impact of the University of Peradeniya’s academic and research contributions.

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Spatio-temporal analysis of land use transformation in the Haputale DS Division using remote sensing and GIS
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2026-08-20) Pradeepa, A.
Land use and land cover (LULC) changes have become a significant environmental concern in ecologically sensitive regions such as the Haputale DS Division in Sri Lanka due to their potential impacts on biodiversity, water resources, and sustainable development. Understanding these changes is important for effective environmental planning and management. This study aimed to analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of LULC changes in the Haputale DS Division over a ten-year period using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques. A quantitative research approach was employed using Landsat satellite imagery from 2014 and 2024. The images were preprocessed through geometric correction, atmospheric correction, and clipping procedures. Supervised classification in ArcGIS Pro was used to classify the study area into four LULC categories: Water, Forest, Developed, and Cultivated land. Change detection analysis was performed to identify changes between the two time periods, while classification accuracy was assessed using confusion matrices based on 100 randomly selected reference points for each year. The results revealed notable changes in land-use patterns during the study period. Forest cover decreased by 51.4%, while water bodies declined by 80.4%. In contrast, cultivated land increased by 29.6%, and developed areas expanded by 20.8%. The classification accuracy was 81% for 2014 and 73% for 2024, indicating acceptable classification performance with some limitations in the latter classification. These changes indicate substantial land-use transformations that may be associated with increasing human activities and land-use pressures in the study area. The findings contribute to understanding land-use dynamics and highlight the need for integrated land management strategies, including sustainable agricultural practices, reforestation, proper urban planning, water conservation, and regular RS-based monitoring to support long-term environmental sustainability.
Teacher awareness and use of AI-assisted tools in secondary classrooms: a study of the Mathugama Educational Zone, Sri Lanka
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2026-08-20) Lindakumbura, V.; Samarakoon, S. M. K. S. M.
The AI-assisted tools are rapidly transforming teaching and learning practices worldwide. However, limited research has examined the awareness of secondary school teachers regarding the integration of these technologies within the Sri Lankan educational context. Therefore, investigating teachers’ awareness of integrating AI-assisted tools is essential to identify existing gaps and support the development of effective professional training programs in Sri Lankan secondary education. This study focuses on teachers’ awareness of integrating AI-assisted tools in teaching and learning. The specific objectives of the study were to investigate the level of awareness of AI-assisted tools among secondary teachers, to examine the extent to which secondary teachers integrate AI-assisted tools into teaching and learning, to provide implications for the Ministry of Education to enhance the integration of AIassisted tools in the teaching and learning process. The convergent mixed methods design was employed in this study. A sample of 153 secondary teachers in the Mathugama educational zone was selected using the random sampling method. The quantitative data were collected by administering a questionnaire, and qualitative data were collected using interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The selfreported data collected from questionnaire revealed that there was a low level (16.3%) of teachers' awareness of AI-assisted tools in teaching and learning. Among the subset of teachers who were aware of AI tools, 86% of teachers were utilizing Chat GPT, and 37% were using Gemini. However, significant gaps in pedagogical use of AI-assisted tools were identified: only 12% knew how to use AIassisted tools for lesson planning, 11% for lesson development, 6% for assessments, and 9% for providing personalized student feedback. The interview data further suggested that, although teachers recognize the terminology, the majority lack the technical pedagogical knowledge to implement these tools in the teaching and learning process effectively. Therefore, the study concludes that the majority of teachers demonstrated limited awareness and pedagogical competency of integrating AI-assisted tools in teaching and learning. The study highlights important implications for the Ministry of Education, particularly the urgent need to introduce targeted professional development programs and policy initiatives to enhance teachers’ conceptual understanding and practical application of AI-assisted tools in classroom teaching and learning processes.
The body remembers what the recipe cannot: embodied knowledge and cooking as performance
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2026-08-20) Gunasekara, T.
An instruction: not measured, not fixed, but felt. Handi Kawum (හැඳි කැවුම්) is a traditional festive sweet prepared during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in Sri Lanka, where culinary knowledge is often transmitted through spoken instruction, gesture, and sensory judgement rather than standardized recipes. This paper traces my attempt to recreate my grandmother’s Handi Kawum without a conventional recipe, guided instead by her approximations: a “little,” a “few,” a consistency that the hand recognises before the eye confirms. What happens when knowledge refuses to be written down? When does instruction become sensation? Situated within a practice-led autoethnographic inquiry, this study positions the repeated preparation of Handi Kawum as the primary site of research, where cooking becomes both practice and method. Having been trained within educational and professional systems that privilege precision, standardized measurement, and written instruction, I initially encountered my grandmother's mode of knowledge transmission as uncertainty rather than clarity. Yet, through repeated acts of heating, grinding, waiting, tasting, smelling, touching, and adjusting, memory intertwined with sensory perception, transforming the body itself into a mode of inquiry. Rather than reproducing a fixed recipe, the practice continually negotiated flavour, texture, timing, and bodily intuition, revealing that knowledge emerged through embodied engagement with ingredients, tools, and remembered gestures. Drawing on Susan Leigh Foster’s articulation of embodied knowledge as produced through movement (Foster, 1995), the paper frames cooking as choreographic practice, where knowing resides in action. The recipe becomes adaptive, contingent, and incomplete. In dialogue with Diana Taylor’s concept of repertoire (Taylor, 2003), it argues that culinary knowledge is carried, repeated, and transformed through embodied practice rather than preserved as fixed textual instruction. The repeated making of Handi Kawum demonstrates that embodied knowledge does not simply preserve the past; it negotiates it. It drifts, substitutes, forgets, and remembers differently. Rather than treating these transformations as failures of transmission, this paper proposes them as the very conditions through which embodied knowledge continues to live, evolve, and perform itself.
The role of Islamic inheritance law in reducing wealth inequality: a socio-economic analysis
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2026-08-20) Farwin, A. M. R.
Wealth inequality remains a persistent socio-economic challenge that undermines equitable resource distribution and sustainable development. Islamic inheritance law (Fara'id) provides a divinely prescribed legal framework that not only governs succession but also functions as a structured mechanism for wealth redistribution and social justice. Despite its theoretical significance, limited attention has been given to its socio-economic role and practical implementation, particularly in South Asian Muslim societies. This study aims to examine the contribution of Islamic inheritance law in reducing wealth inequality by analyzing its role in wealth circulation, socio-economic equity, and the challenges affecting its implementation, especially in Sri Lanka and similar contexts. The study adopts a qualitative research design based on doctrinal and documentary analysis. Primary sources include the Qur’an, Hadith, and classical Islamic jurisprudential texts, while secondary sources comprise scholarly literature in Islamic economics, inheritance law, and socio-economic studies. The data were analyzed using thematic and comparative methods to interpret the socio-economic dimensions of inheritance principles. The findings reveal that Islamic inheritance law plays a significant role in preventing the concentration of wealth by mandating its distribution among multiple heirs, thereby promoting continuous wealth circulation and economic balance within society. It also strengthens financial inclusion, reinforces family responsibility, and ensures women’s legally guaranteed inheritance rights. However, in practice, its implementation remains weak in many South Asian contexts, including Sri Lanka, due to inadequate awareness, entrenched customary practices, and patriarchal interpretations, which often result in the partial denial of women’s rightful shares. The study concludes that Islamic inheritance law operates not only as a legal mechanism but also as a socio-economic instrument for promoting equity, reducing wealth concentration, and enhancing social stability. It further highlights the need for improved awareness, institutional education on Fara'id, and community-based reform initiatives to ensure effective implementation and achieve socio-economic justice.
The impact of karma theory on disability identity in Kusa Jatakaya: an intermedial study of a Sinhala Jataka story
(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2026-08-20) Wijesiri, W. N. D. N.
Disability has historically been interpreted through religious and moral frameworks in both Western and Eastern societies, where physical and mental impairments were often associated with sin, immorality, or supernatural forces. While Western disability discourse has increasingly shifted toward the Medical, Social, and Human Rights models, conceptions of disability in South Asia continue to be strongly influenced by the Religious/Charity Model. Rooted in Vedic, Buddhist, and other religious traditions, this model continues to shape contemporary perceptions of disability. Within Indian philosophical thought, disability is commonly understood through the doctrine of karma, whereby present conditions are interpreted as consequences of actions performed in previous lives. However, the Buddhist Pāli Canon presents a more nuanced view by identifying karma as only one of the five causal principles (niyāma-dhamma), suggesting that disability cannot be explained solely through karmic causation. Despite this broader doctrinal perspective, classical Sinhala literature frequently represents disability within a singular karmic framework. Among Sinhala literary texts, Kusa Jātakaya provides an important case for examining the construction of disability identity in Jātaka narratives. This study investigates the representation of disability identity in Kusa Jātakaya through an intermedial perspective. Employing a qualitative methodology, it explores the intersections of disability and gender in classical Sinhala literature. The study is guided by the primary research question: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲? A subsidiary question asks: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐊𝐮𝐬𝐚 𝐉𝐚̄𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐲𝐚? Critical Disability Theory provides the analytical framework, while the methodology combines textual analysis with the examination of video-recorded performances, archival materials, published texts, mass media, photographs, and paintings. The findings reveal that disability identity in Kusa Jātakaya is represented primarily through a karmic and religious framework. Since Jātaka narratives link the Bodhisatta's previous and present lives through karma, disability is predominantly portrayed as the consequence of past actions. This limited perspective constrains the understanding of disability as a complex social identity. By critically examining these representations, the study contributes to disability studies and literary scholarship, encouraging more inclusive and critical approaches to representing disability in literary and cultural texts.