Dr. Ajith Rajapaksha operates from Hebei University of Technology in Tianjin, China, as a part of the University of Arizona’s global partnerships. Ajith primarily performs teaching duties while actively incorporating active learning strategies into his instructions. Ajith focuses on developing physic instructions based on epistemological trends in the content knowledge of physics. Ajith is keen on promoting the transdisciplinary skills that are being developed in the process of teaching and learning.

Education

1. Ph.D.: 2015 (Biophysics) Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 40907, USA
2. MS: 2015 (Education: Curriculum and Instruction), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 40907, USA
3. MS: 2007 (Physics), University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40208, USA
4. BSc. 2001 (Physics), University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

Research & Publications:

1. (Submitted Article) Benefits of Competency Based Learning: College Physics and Beyond, Physical Review Physics Education Research, (YU10051)
2. (Journal Article) Competency Based Teaching of College Physics: The philosophy and practice, Physical Review Physics Education Research, Vol 13, No. 2, (2017)
3. (Journal Article) Size Dependent Diffusion in Porcine Corneal Stroma, Molecular and Cellular Biomechanics Journal, Vol 12, No. 3, p215-230, (2015)
4. (Journal Article) Effects of Macromolecular Crowding on the Structure of a Protein Complex - a Small Angle Scattering Study of Superoxide Dismutase, Biophysical Journal, Vol 108, p967-974, (2015)

Work Experience

1. Global Professor, Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA (Jan 2023-Present)
2. Assistant Professor (term), Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA (Jan 2020-Dec 2022)
3. Senior Lecturer, Department of Physical Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihintale, Sri Lanka (Dec 2019-May 2022)
4. Visiting Assistant Professor (term),College of Technology, Purdue University,West Lafayette, IN. USA (May 2015-Apr 2018)
5. Graduate Teaching/ Research Assistant, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. USA (Aug 2009-May 2015)
6. Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA (Aug 2007- July 2009)
7. High School Physics Teacher, Elizabeth Moir (Senior) School, Colombo, Sri Lanka (Aug 2006 – Jun 2007)
8. Physics Lecturer, Maldives College of Higher Education, Male, Republic of Maldives (Jan 2006 - Jun 2006)
9. High School Physics Teacher, Centre for Higher Secondary Education, Male, Republic of Maldives (June 2005 - June 2006)
10. Graduate Teaching Assistant(Physics Demonstrator), Department of Physics, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka (Apr 2003 - Feb 2004)