Rate My Professor Prashan Karunaratne

Prashan Karunaratne is an Associate Professor (Teaching and Leadership) in the Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics at Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University. He serves as the Course Director of the Bachelor of Commerce and convenes the Bachelor of Commerce Capstone unit, MQBS3010, where students address United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through collaborative, sustainable, and profitable projects. Karunaratne began his association with Macquarie University as a student in 2000, commenced teaching in 2003, and started lecturing in the school's core economics unit in 2006. He is recognized for his innovative teaching in economics and business analytics, emphasizing active learning cultures, threshold concepts, and learning taxonomies to engage students in theoretical subjects. His pedagogical approach fosters student empowerment and creates memorable 'wow' moments. Karunaratne has collaborated with industry partners, including producing the Lost Business Report with McCrindle for the Business Events Council of Australia in 2020, which supported federal government lobbying, and delivering data analytics training in the Optus U program.

Karunaratne has received numerous awards for teaching excellence, including the Australian Award for University Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in 2019, the Australian Business Deans Council Award for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning in 2020, the Vice-Chancellor's Learning & Teaching Student-Nominated Award in 2021, and a team Australian Award for University Teaching in 2025. Key publications include the chapter 'Agility and excellence in business – A transdisciplinary capstone course on sustainability using the knowledge and skills of commerce' in Shaping a Sustainable Future: Innovative Teaching Practices for Educating Responsible Leaders (2022), and 'Transforming the economics curriculum by integrating threshold concepts' (2016). He contributes to widening participation through Macquarie's LEAP programs, leads the National Equity Program for Business Education, and advises Enactus Macquarie, which won the national championship in 2020. Karunaratne instructs Macquarie's Coursera Excel courses, reaching over one million learners globally, and provides expert commentary for outlets such as the BBC and The Sydney Morning Herald during the pandemic. His YouTube channel, Prashan Economics, has garnered over 72,000 views.