Undergraduate Programme
Structure of the Study Programme
The academic programmes for the Geography leading to general and special degree at the Faculty of Arts & Culture are of three years and four years duration respectively, and conducted under semester based credit unit system. The curriculum of Depapartment of Geography is revised to suit the dynamic needs in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences and the rapid changes taking place in technological transformation in the global academic scenario. In this perspective, revision of the curriculum of the Geography undergraduate degree programme has been tabled using Student Centered Learning (SCL) outcome based assessment method.
1. Semester System
Each academic year consists of two semesters and each semester comprises fifteen (15) weeks exclusively with seventy five (75) working days of academic activities. Each course is taught and assessed based on SCL within the same semester. The three years general degree programme comprises six semesters and six end-semester examinations, and the four years special degree programme comprises eight semesters and eight end- semester examinations.
2. Credit Unit
When a course carries one credit, it involves one student contact hour per week; or two credits, it involves two student contact hours per week; or three credits, it involves three student contact hours per week for a semester. The following distribution is given for the credit value:
- for a theory course of 15 hours of lecture is equivalent to one credit
- for a theory course of 30 hours of lecture is equivalent to two credits
- for a theory course of 45 hours of lecture is equivalent to three credits
- for a practical course of 30 hours of practical is equivalent to one credit
- final year research project in a special degree programme is equivalent to six credits
The Undergraduate degree programmes include core, ancillary, optional courses and internship training, and in addition to that, the Faculty also offers non-credit courses within the degree programmes.
The ancillary, optional and non-credit courses are designed to meet the themes of the Higher Education for Twenty first Century (HETC) policy. The theme is to deliver quality higher educational services in line with equitable, social and economical development needs of the country.
3. Ancillary Courses
The Geography Students will be allowed to choose one ancillary course from a pool of courses,. The ancillary courses are taught by knowledgeable and experienced academics from various departments of study.
4. Optional Courses
The Geography Students will be allowed to choose one optional course from a pool of courses with, outstanding academic quality. The optional courses are taught by conversant academics from different departments in the Faculty.
5. Non Credit Courses
To assist students to acquire a satisfactory proficiency in English language, Information Technology, Basic Mathematics / Statistics, and basic Sinhala, a set of supplementary non- credited courses are included in the General and Special Degree Programmes. It is compulsory for every student to pass all the non- credited courses. Each student must acquire minimum of 40% marks from each paper of non-credit courses in the second and third year of study to be eligible for the award of the General / Special Degree.
6. Internship Training
The Department of Geography offering Internship Training is Programme to all General and Special Degree students to enhance their outcome based academic programme and other forms of active learning. This training provides opportunities to students to gain practical training confidence, and gain a wide range of work-related skills.
7. Field Tour
The Geography students are expected to fulfill fieldwork experience with their relevant courses. The student shall submit a written assignment, with supportive readings along with a field tour exposure.
8. The medium of instruction
The medium of instruction for Geographical study is in Tamil.
Please see the Student’s Profile, Faculty of Arts and Culture for more Programme detailed