Guinness memory man helps at UWC

WITH final exams around the corner and the perennial study grind making memorisation a very difficult task‚ the University of the Western Cape (UWC) has come up with a novel way to help students.

The university’s Centre for Student Support Services (CSSS) secured the services of Guinness World Record holder David Thomas‚ who has memorised thousands of digits of pi. He led an interactive workshop and taught 400 students several techniques for strengthening their memories.

“Students are on the cusp of writing their final examinations‚ and one of the most reported challenges for students when accessing student support is memory and concentration‚ which can severely compromise academic performance‚” said CSSS director Laetitia Permall.

According to a statement by the university‚ people’s memories are getting weaker – in part because technology means we can now rely on platforms like Wikipedia to find information and Facebook to remember birthdays.

In one notable exercise‚ Thomas made students memorise and recall a list of 25 words. “It’s much like going to the gym – you can build your memory like you build your muscles‚” Thomas said. — DDC