The Department of Information Technology at DUT, in conjunction Chillisoft (PTY) LTD, will host the University’s first Code Retreat on Saturday March, 8, 2014 at the Department’s laboratories on the Ritson Campus.
The event will start at 9h00 ending at 16h00. A Code Retreat is a day-long intensive practice event that focuses on the fundamentals of software development and design. “Like any professional artist, software developers must practice their skills to become better and to keep relevant in their field. At Chillisoft, we believe in making an impact on the world through our actions, where we add value to our lives by adding value to the lives of people around us. One of the ways in which we accomplish this is by engaging in and with our community in events such as this code retreat. We hope that by providing students with an opportunity to learn how to practice and gain knowledge from experts, we will encourage the importance of deliberate and effective practice,” said Brendon Page, the event facilitator.
When it comes to understanding experts and deliberate practice, psychologist Dr K. Anders Ericsson is perhaps the world’s leading authority. According to Dr Ericsson, when scientists began measuring an expert’s supposedly superior powers of speed, memory and intelligence with psychometric tests, no general superiority was found. The demonstrated superiority was domain specific. Dr Ericksson further states that “systematic differences between experts and less proficient individuals nearly always reflect attributes acquired by the experts during their lengthy training.”
“People often talk about how hard they’ve worked and use the number of hours they worked as an indicator. Simply working a lot isn’t enough to make one a top performer because one is often practicing the stuff that they are good at. Deliberate practice allows one to focus on the skills that one is not familiar with,” said Cassim Vanker, an academic in the DUT IT Department.
The event consists of for four sessions with a re-group after each session. The re-group will allow students to share the knowledge that they have gained while working in their respective teams. To build enthusiasm for the event, the IT Department has also sponsored a number of prizes to rewarded students for their participation in the event.
“We are delighted to be hosting this event in conjunction with Chillisoft. The concept of deliberate practice directly supports the university’s and UNESCO’s education goals to foster principles of lifelong learning in education,” added Vanker.
– Cassim Vanker
