Browsing by Author "Dantanarayana, N.D."

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Access to Education for Children with Learning Disabilities: Inclusive Primary School Teachers’ Efficacy in Adapting Classroom Instructions for Children with Learning Disabilities.
(Access To and Through Education Conference, 2021) Madushani, K.A.T; Dantanarayana, N.D.
The purpose of the study is to investigate how primary school teachers’ efficacy in adapting classroom instructions for children with disabilities affect the access to inclusive education. Teachers’ efficacy refers to teachers’ own ability on his or her capabilities to achieve the outcomes of the students’ educational needs. An effective education participation of children with disabilities would rely on the efficacy of teachers to adapt classroom instructions. This quantitative study was carried out with sixty primary school teachers including 51 females and 09 males who teaching for children with learning disabilities were selected using purposive sampling method. The study setting was inclusive primary schools in the Thanamalwila educational zone in Sri Lanka. A Telephone-administered questionnaire was used to collect data and data were analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. According to the results, a majority of primary teachers had the certain level of efficacy to make equity, diversity and adapting classroom instruction in inclusion practices for children with learning disabilities. Teachers’ educational qualification was associated with teacher efficacy level in making equity, diversity and adapting classroom instruction in inclusion practices but other demographical factors such as age, training in special education, undergone teacher training programme related to disabilities and years of training students with disabilities is not associated with teachers’ efficacy in make equity, diversity and inclusion. Children with learning disabilities benefit from the efficacy of teachers to make equity, diversity and inclusion when teaching in inclusive classroom environments. Teacher training needs to address these crucial aspects. The findings of the studies are contributed to literature regarding ‘primary school teachers’ efficacy in equity, diversity and inclusion in teaching with learning disabilities in the Thanamalwila education zone’
Awareness on excessive noise exposure, hearing protection and perceived symptoms of noise exposure among grade 12 students of a selected government school in the Colombo District
(Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Dantanarayana, N.D.
Introduction: More studies have been conducted recently to address the growing concern of hearing loss among adolescents due to non-occupational noise exposure. Objective: To describe adolescents’ current awareness on excessive noise exposure, risky listening situations and perceived auditory symptoms in the Sri Lankan context. Methods: This was a school based descriptive cross sectional study. In a purposively selected school, study participants were selected using simple random sampling. Proportional probability sampling was used to select participants from each subject stream. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: All participants considered excessive noise exposure as a cause of hearing loss. 71.4% comprehended that hearing loss due to excessive noise cannot be cured. Only 9.9% recognized that the usage of ear protectors was the most effective mode of hearing protection. Among different noisy situations, most frequently exposed situations included traffic noise exposure, usage of mobile phones and MP3 players. The most common exposure duration was less than one hour with 6-10 loudness range. Ear fullness and muffled speech were the most prominent auditory symptoms after being exposed to noise. Conclusion: Although all study participants were aware that hearing loss can occur due to excessive noise, their awareness on the usage of most effective hearing protection methods was considerably low. A hearing conservation programs for adolescents should be developed to address non-occupational noise effects on hearing and hearing protection. Schools seem to be the best place to begin the process of teaching hearing protection.