Associate Professor Damith Chatura Rajapakse Honoured with Outstanding Educator Award
Associate Professor Damith Chatura Rajapakse Honoured with Outstanding Educator Award
Associate Professor Damith Chatura Rajapakse from the Department of Computer Science, School of Computing, has been awarded the prestigious Outstanding Educator Award at the 2025 NUS University Awards. This accolade recognises his exceptional contributions to teaching, mentorship, and educational innovation at the National University of Singapore.
Assoc Prof Rajapakse is widely regarded as an inspiring teacher and empowering mentor. His teaching evaluations consistently exceed school and departmental averages, and he is regularly nominated by students for teaching excellence in every course he delivers.
At the heart of his educational philosophy is a strong commitment to fostering independent, self-directed learners equipped with the critical judgement needed to thrive in the age of generative AI.
“While I began my teaching journey with a strong focus on making lectures interactive and engaging, my approach has since evolved to emphasise long-term educational outcomes and deeper learning,” he shared.
A trailblazer in educational technology, Assoc Prof Rajapakse is the creator of TEAMMATES, a peer evaluation platform now used by over 1.2 million users across more than 1,500 institutions globally. Developed in collaboration with over 600 NUS students, the tool supports effective team-based learning and provides valuable hands-on software development experience.
He also scaled up software engineering education by accommodating larger class sizes through monitoring learning progress via dashboards and boosting student participation via Zoom, and extending beyond the typical semester through strategically strung courses forming an informal pathway for extended training. His open-ended approach lets students control the depth and pace of their learning: in lower-level courses, blended learning combines online and in-person formats and withholds premature feedback to encourage judgement, while in higher-level courses, problem-based learning promotes self-learning through real-world projects and open-ended tasks.
The Outstanding Educator Award is part of the annual NUS University Awards, which honour individuals who have made significant contributions in education, research, mentorship, and service. The 2025 awards coincide with NUS’s 120th anniversary, marking an especially meaningful celebration of academic excellence.
Assoc Prof Rajapakse’s recognition affirms his lasting impact on students, colleagues, and the wider education community — both in Singapore and around the world.