A Study on the Exposure to E-Learning during COVID-19: Special Reference to Management Undergraduates of Non-State Universities

Education is a goal of every human being in this modern era. The remarkable growth in information technology and the internet over the past few years has propelled the need for the application of e-learning among the educational sectors. Due to the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sri Lankan educational institutes were forced to transform to e-learning. Hence, it is essential to have a strong awareness on the engagement of students in this e-learning. The purpose of this study is to examine the level of exposure to e-learning with special reference to the management undergraduates of non-state universities in Sri Lanka. This study is a quantitative research study and is based on a deductive research approach. For data collection, researchers used a questionnaire based on a convenience sampling process. A sample of 332 students was considered from a total population of 2500 students including 3rd and 4th year management undergraduates from two non-state universities. The collected data were analysed using one sample t-test analysis and descriptive analysis using the Statistical Package for Service Solutions. The researchers used one sample t-test to predict the students' level of exposure to e-learning based on the mean value of e-learning. The results show that students had a high level of exposure to e-learning with a value of 3.92. In addition, it revealed that system quality, instructors’ quality, digital readiness and learners’ attitude are highly influential towards the students’ level of exposure to e-learning. Furthermore, descriptive analysis revealed that the average GPA achieved by undergraduates utilising e-learning is higher than by traditional learning with an average score of 3.35. The findings of this study can serve as a guideline for higher educational institutions in developing appropriate initiatives to uplift the e-learning exposure. The main limitation of the study was that only management undergraduates were taken into consideration. As a result, future researchers should focus their efforts on different faculty studies separately to explore the level of e-learning exposure in each one of them. Keywords: COVID-19, E-Learning, Exposure, GPA, Undergraduate

A survey on the knowledge, perceptions and practices regarding unwanted medicine disposal among pharmacists in Sri Lanka

Background: Unwanted medicines are defined as expired, unused, damaged or contaminated pharmaceutical products. Improper disposal of unwanted medicines leads to many health and environmental hazards. The World Health Organisation recommends that unwanted medicines should always be disposed properly. The main objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, practices and perceptions on the disposal of unwanted medicines among pharmacists in Sri Lanka.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among pharmacists in 40 private retail pharmacies in the Northern, Eastern and the Western provinces within a period of three months. The pharmacies were selected via stratified randomised sampling in each district. The most experienced pharmacist in each pharmacy was recruited for data collection. A pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire was used. The ethics approval was obtained (Ref: EC-12-190). The data was represented using simple descriptive statistics.Results: The data was collected from 40 pharmacies. Among the pharmacists, 65% were males. The majority answered that burning and landfill as the most appropriate methods of disposal for most of the types of medicinal waste. A significant number of pharmacists were not aware about the method of disposal for anti-infective agents and anti-neoplastic agents. The majority perceived the seriousness of environmental damage caused by disposal via trash or sink. A majority was not agreeing to have pharmacies as collecting centers for unwanted medicines. A discrepancy between the pharmacists’ perceptions and the practices was observed.Conclusions: The level of knowledge, practices and perceptions among pharmacists on unwanted medicines disposal was substandard and needs attention