CAMPUS NEWS
in group settings and on an individual base, and wrote
various class tests as well as two exam papers to ascertain their level of knowledge. “The programme sets a
minimum required pass rate of 50% for all participants,
and I am pleased to say that the programme enjoyed a
pass rate of 82.6% “, says Gerber. The biggest success
of the programme is that it builds a bridge between the
abstract nature of mathematics and the practical application thereof. In the instance of a degree programme
such as BSc IT, mathematics represents the basis
upon which all natural sciences subjects are founded,
whereas in BCom programmes mathematics is used, for
example, to calculate logarithms and exponential functions.
The Executive Dean of the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Information Technology on the campus, Prof
Herman van der Merwe, emphasises the importance of
an initiative such as the BTMG and says that by empowering learners to be mathematically competent and
efficient, the campus is pro-actively addressing the dire
skills need of the country. “Mathematics is one of those
subjects – along with science, that is very important to
the economy and the further development of our country,” says Prof Van der Merwe and adds that school
learners who want to further their studies or want to
work in sectors like engineering, natural sciences, information technology and medicine have to pass mathematics, science or both if they are to qualify for further
studies in these fields. “Our economy needs doctors,
engineers, architects, actuaries and information technology specialists, and I believe that as a University and
as a campus, we are heeding the call to address this
skills deficit”.
* The BTMG programme is offered in conjunction with
the Centre for Continuing Professional Development
(CCPD) on the campus.
Grandmaster of Memory unlocks the
mysteries of the mind
Annette Willemse
A page filled with random numbers and twenty seconds
of absolute silence. This is all that Kevin Horsley, professional speaker and international Grandmaster of Memory, needed to captivate an audience of more than a
thousand first year students – and their parents.
During the Official Welcoming of the First Year Students,
Kevin demonstrated his unique ability of effective learning and information retention by asking members of the
audience to provide him with a list of random numbers
between the value of 1 and 9. He then studied the sequence of numbers and successfully recalled it by memory. According to Kevin, in all his years of research into
the possibilities of the human mind, and working with
different companies, he has found that there is a massive gap between understanding information and using
information. The aim of his demonstration was to introduce the audience to key thinking tools and accelerated
learning methods to close this gap.
“By training your mind and revisiting the ways in which
you process information, you will be able to make your
study material more memorable,” said Kevin and urged
the audience – and students in particular, to rethink their
mental limits.
8 - Student 24/7
Top: Grandmaster, Kevin Horseley teaches everyone that it is possible to memorize everything you learn; you just need to know how
to remember it and recite it back when needed.
Next page: Kevin Horsely recites number from memory (after
meorizing them for only 20 seconds) from top to bottom, as well as
bottom to top.