EECE - General - Study - Guide (Current)

General Undergraduate Study Guide
Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering
Function head for undergraduate studies: Prof T Hanekom

Last Revision: 16 May 2023
Short link to this document:

bit.ly/EECEGeneralUGGuide
Request access to EECE Undergraduate student ClickUP:

bit.ly/EECEClickUPAccess
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION I: ORGANISATIONAL COMPONENT

1. GENERAL PREMISE AND EDUCATIONAL APPROACH
1.1 Statement of intent for undergraduate education
1.2 Statement on Anti-Discrimination
2. FUNCTION HEAD for UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES
3. POLICY ON COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT

3.1 Consulting hours
3.2 Communication with lecturers and other members of staff
3.3 Class representative system
3.3.1 Class representative responsibilities
3.3.2 Class/student body responsibilities
3.4 Grievance procedures
3.4.1 Escalations
When to escalate
3.4.2 Surveys of student satisfaction
3.5 Social media
3.5.1 Telegram
Groups
Module groups
Year groups
3.5.2 External sites and platforms
4. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON LECTURES AND CLASS ATTENDANCE
5. DEPARTMENTAL APPROACH TO AND POLICY ON HYBRID TEACHING AND LEARNING
6. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON ASSIGNMENTS

6.1 Standard cover page for all assignments
6.1.1 Group assignments
6.1.2 Individual assignments
7. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON LABORATORY WORK

7.1 Rules regarding laboratory work
7.2 Laboratory rules and access
© University of Pretoria 2
7.3 Components for practical assignments
8. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON ASSESSMENT

8.1 Tests and examinations
8.1.1 On-line vs on-campus assessment
8.1.2 General test and examination arrangements
8.2 Entrance into the examination of a module
8.3 Composition of the final mark
8.4 Computer-based assessment submission protocol
8.4.1 Session-based assessments
On-campus assessments
Submission protocol
Extraordinary/special circumstances
Online assessments
Submission protocol
Extraordinary/special circumstances: semester assessments
Extraordinary/special circumstances: examinations
8.4.2 Non-session-based assessments (e.g. assignments, reports)
Submission protocol
8.5 Absence from formal evaluation opportunities and practical sessions
8.5.1 Absence from assessments during the semester, e.g. tests, practical sessions and
assignments
8.5.2 Rules and regulations applicable to aegrotat and extraordinary/special assessments
8.5.3 Absence for participation in sport and other extramural activities
8.5.4 Modules presented by other departments
8.5.5 Applications for aegrotat or special assessments
8.5.6 Absence from examinations
8.6 Assessment management
8.6.1 Judicator AMS
8.6.2 ClickUP
8.7 Perusals, queries and remarking of scripts
8.7.1 Perusals
8.7.2 Judicator AMS Query Rating
8.8 Extra time
9. ETHICS and CODE OF CONDUCT

9.1 Code of conduct and University rules and policies
9.2 Academic misconduct
9.2.1 Academic dishonesty
9.2.2 Plagiarism
9.2.3 Statement of originality
10. DEPARTMENTAL RESOURCES

10.1 Removal of assets from campus
11. SUPPORT SERVICES

11.1 Safety in the evening and emergencies
11.2 E-learning support
11.3 Other support services:
12. FACULTY PROCESSES

12.1 Admissions
12.2 Registrations
12.3 Exclusions and appeals
12.4 Credit applications
12.5 Sick and extraordinary/special examinations
12.6 Special examinations
12.7 Remarking of examination scripts
SECTION II: STUDY COMPONENT

13. GENERAL DEGREE PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
14. ECSA
14.1 Knowledge Areas
14.1.1 Natural sciences (formerly basic sciences)
14.1.2 Complementary studies
14.1.3 Engineering design and synthesis
14.1.4 Engineering sciences
14.1.5 Mathematical sciences
14.2 ECSA Graduate Attributes (GAs)
Graduate Attribute 1: Problem solving
Graduate Attribute 2: Application of scientific and engineering knowledge
Graduate Attribute 3: Engineering Design
Graduate Attribute 4: Investigations, experiments and data analysis
Graduate Attribute 5: Engineering methods, skills and tools, including information
technology
Graduate Attribute 6: Professional and technical communication
Graduate Attribute 7: Sustainability and impact of engineering activity
Graduate Attribute 8: Individual, team and multidisciplinary working
Graduate Attribute 9: Independent Learning Ability
Graduate Attribute 10: Engineering Professionalism
Graduate Attribute 11: Engineering management
14.3 ECSA GA assessment approach in the Department of EECE
14.4 Articulation of modules with knowledge areas and graduate attributes.
15. COGNITIVE LEVEL OF ASSESSMENT

Revision history
SECTION I: ORGANISATIONAL COMPONENT
This guide serves as Part 1 of all study guides in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer
Engineering. The information in this guide is complemented and supported by comprehensive content
available on the EECE Undergraduate ClickUP module. Part 1 of the study guide will also be referred to
as the general EECE study guide and can be accessed at bit.ly/EECEGeneralUGGuide.
Part 2 of the study guide is module-specific and will be compiled and provided by the lecturer for each
module. These study guides will also be referred to as the module study guides.
Please note that the General Study Guide complements the content of the EBIT FACULTY RULES, EBIT
UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE RULES as well as the University of Pretoria's GENERAL REGULATIONS AND
RULES, which may all be accessed under Study>Yearbooks from the main page of the University of
Pretoria. Also refer to the University of Pretoria's POLICIES available on the policies page on the
student intranet – STUDENT POLICIES PAGE or under About UP > UP Policies from the main page of the
University of Pretoria website.
1. GENERAL PREMISE AND EDUCATIONAL APPROACH
1.1 Statement of intent for undergraduate education

The overall objective of the undergraduate programs offered by the Department of Electrical,
Electronic and Computer Engineering is to provide world-class education in Electrical, Electronic and
Computer Engineering. This will equip graduates with the knowledge and skills-base to make
significant contributions in the engineering industrial and research environments. Since our
community, both local and global, is technology-based, competent engineers are essential to the
development, support and maintenance of the sophisticated foundations that support society. The
Department thus sees its role not only in the technical education of engineers, but also in the
development of a professional ethic that guides the conduct of our graduates.
1.2 Statement on Anti-Discrimination

The University of Pretoria is committed to building an inclusive, affirming and transformed institutional
culture, curriculum and campus life. It rejects and condemns racism, sexism, homophobia,
transphobia, xenophobia, ethnic chauvinism, religious intolerance, unfair discrimination, hate speech,
sexual harassment, gender-based violence and retaliation, and all other forms of discrimination. The
University has committed itself to the eradication of these practices, and in 2019 adopted an
Anti-Discrimination Policy, in order to realise procedural and substantive equality in all respects.
The lecturers of the modules in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering
collectively and individually acknowledge the extreme harm that racism, sexism, xenophobia and other
forms of discrimination have inflicted and continue to inflict on our society and communities. We
commit to ensuring that there is an open dialogue between ourselves and all the students in our
modules on curriculum content and teaching methods which may be interpreted as discriminatory or
exclusive. We undertake to ensure that any such concerns are raised without fear of intimidation or
recrimination. Moreover, we resolve to continuously improve the teaching of all the modules
presented by our Department in a way that allows the inclusion of all the students enrolled for our
modules, building their self-confidence and self-efficacy, and supporting the ultimate goal of
substantive equality for all persons.
The choices that we make about curriculum content and pedagogy (what and how we teach) are also
choices about what kind of society we wish to build. In this declaration of intent, we resolve to be part
of and give substance to the University’s anti-discrimination and transformation endeavours.
2. FUNCTION HEAD for UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES
The function head for undergraduate studies is responsible for all aspects related to the day-to-day
operation and management of undergraduate matters in the Department.
Prof Tania Hanekom

Queries and appointments: bit.ly/EECE_Undergrad_Queries
The deputy function heads for undergraduate studies are:

● Dr. Filip Palunčić for Electronic Engineering
● Dr. Allan de Freitas for Computer Engineering
● Dr. Werner Badenhorst for Electrical Engineering
Queries and appointments: bit.ly/EECE_Undergrad_Queries
Administrative support is provided by...

Ms Mari Ferreira
Tel: 012 420 3736
Email: [email protected]
Office: Engineering 3, office 7-19, University of Pretoria Hatfield Campus
Ms Marcia Ndala
Tel: 012 420 6470
Email: [email protected]
Office: Engineering 1, office 14-8, University of Pretoria Hatfield Campus
3. POLICY ON COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT
3.1 Consulting hours

Refer to the module study guides and websites for specific arrangements with regard to consultation
hours, whether on campus or online. Hours for consultation of lecturers, tutors and teaching assistants
will be announced at the beginning of the semester, and will also be published on each module's
ClickUP. Students may consult lecturers, tutors and teaching assistants only during the consulting hours
as indicated, or by appointment. This policy also holds before tests and exams. In other words,
lecturers, tutors and teaching assistants are only available during their normal consulting hours on the
day before a test or examination. This policy aims to encourage students to plan their work and to
work continuously.
3.2 Communication with lecturers and other members of

staff
Communication with lecturers and other members of staff is regarded as an opportunity to develop
students' skills to communicate with a higher level of management. As such, it is expected that
students cultivate a professional attitude towards such communication, which must be reflected both
in oral and written communication. Kindly note that email messages are considered formal
communication and should be approached as such. Lecturers should be addressed by their titles, e.g.
Dr Badenhorst and Prof Malherbe.
3.3 Class representative system

One class representative per module1 will be appointed who
● must be enrolled for the module,
● may not be repeating the module,
● must be willing to serve in this capacity for the module, and
● needs to engage on a regular basis with the module lecturer to provide (and receive) feedback.
First-year class representatives will be appointed by the Department from a list of students who make
themselves available to serve in this capacity. The process to select and appoint second to fourth year
module class representatives will be facilitated by the module lecturer during a lecture at the start of
the semester. A specific student may be the class representative for more than one module, or for one
module only, depending on his/her availability and willingness to accept the associated responsibilities.
Class representatives will thus be elected every semester for every module.
3.3.1 Class representative responsibilities

A class representative is expected to
● introduce him or herself in person to the lecturer as soon as he/she is appointed so that an
open communication channel may be established.
1
One representative per discipline for modules that also accommodate other engineering disciplines.
● attend all classes in a module to be in a position where he/she can effectively engage with the
lecturer.
● communicate with the class on a regular basis to serve as a "contentment barometer".
● be diligent in this task as good communication between the lecturer and the class in a spirit of
cooperation and good humor will lead to a healthy teaching and learning partnership.
● act in the general interest of the class, i.e. avoid driving his/her own agenda.
● attend class representative meetings (typically three throughout the semester) with the
guardian lecturer of the year group.
● communicate with the guardian lecturer of the year group in between meetings if necessary.
● be familiar with the entire content of the General EECE Undergraduate Study Guide and the
relevant policies mentioned in this guide to allow such representatives to act from a
perspective that is informed by this content.
3.3.2 Class/student body responsibilities

Students are expected to
● communicate with the class representative on general issues that may need to be discussed
with a module's lecturer.
● in accordance with the Escalation Policy of the University of Pretoria, inform the class
representative about any issue that needs to be discussed with the lecturer as soon as possible
so that (i) there is time to address challenges if necessary, and (ii) the development of general
discontent is avoided.
● provide positive feedback that may be shared with the lecturer as it offers valuable
information on the effectiveness of the teaching and learning strategy.
3.4 Grievance procedures

3.4.1 Escalations
Please familiarise yourself with the University of Pretoria's Escalation Policy. All grievances must be
submitted in writing with specifics of the incident or the nature of the complaint. It is imperative that
you follow the procedure outlined below in order to resolve your issues:
1. Consult the lecturer concerned about your grievances/concerns.

If the matter has not been resolved,
2. consult the class representative (The primary function of the class representative system is to
serve as a two-way communication channel between the class and the lecturer).
3. consult the module co-ordinator (large modules with multiple lecturers)
4. consult the Function Head for Undergraduate Studies in the Department
If the matter has still not been resolved,
5. consult the Head of Department
If the matter has still not been resolved, the student must prepare for escalation to the EBIT
Deputy-Dean for Teaching and Learning by completing the Departmental escalation report.
Once the escalation report is received and the Department verified that all steps were properly
followed and are documented, the student will be allowed to escalate the matter to the EBIT
Deputy-Dean for Teaching and Learning.
Please note that the Department will, unfortunately, not be able to react to grievances that have been
lodged without following this process.
A graphical representation of this information is available under Communication >

Communication with the Department on the EECE Undergraduate Student ClickUP module.
When to escalate
All matters that a student may want to escalate must be submitted to the person at the present
escalation level (starting at the lecturer) in writing via email. A reply to email communication may be
expected within 48 workday hours. In the same spirit, a reply from the student may also be expected
by the person in the escalation sequence within 48 workday hours. If the person at the present
escalation level does not reply within 48 workday hours, the student needs to resend the original email
as a reminder to respond.
Students are allowed to escalate a matter to the next level in the escalation sequence if
1. the person at the present escalation level does not respond within 24 workday hours since the
reminder to respond has been sent, or
2. the person at the present escalation level indicates that the outcome of the matter is final and
that the student needs to escalate should he/she not be satisfied with the outcome.
3.4.2 Surveys of student satisfaction

Please note that any third party, i.e. non-staff members, needs ethical clearance from the ethics
committee of the Faculty to be allowed to administer any survey to students or staff of the University.
(Members of staff also need ethics clearance for running polls or administering surveys should they
wish to publish the results on a public forum.) It is thus against the rules and policies of the University
for students to administer student-satisfaction polls without ethics approval for such polls.
Please be reminded that the University has a formal escalation policy that allows students to deal with
grievances in a specific way. Also note that there is an opportunity for students to complete student
satisfaction polls for every module at the end of a semester. The Department will also, from time to
time administer general student satisfaction polls to monitor this very important criterion of the
effectiveness of our Teaching and Learning offering.
3.5 Social media

Refer to the information on the EECE Undergraduate Student ClickUP module under
Communication > Departmental social media platforms. Also refer to the
University of Pretoria's Social Media Policy.
3.5.1 Telegram
The Department of EECE makes use of the Telegram social media app. Telegram is similar to WhatsApp
with the added benefits of allowing groups of up to 200 000 members and the ability to hide your
phone number to protect your privacy.
● If you have not done so yet, please install the Telegram app on your mobile device. Note that
there is a web-version and a desktop version, which you may also find handy.
● To hide your phone number in Telegram: go to Settings> Privacy and Security>Phone number
and select "Nobody" for "Who can see my phone number?". Only the username you select for
yourself (similar to an email address) will then be visible to anybody that is not in the contact
list on your phone, or who does not have your number stored on their phone in any case.
● Please check your modules' ClickUP announcements for the links to Telegram groups and join
these group(s) well in advance of any assessments.
● Make sure you know how to send a message as well as pictures taken with your phone's
camera using this platform before the start of any assessments as Telegram will also serve as
our primary assessment submission backup platform.
● Make sure you know your lecturers' Telegram usernames so that you can DM them during
assessments if you experience technical problems.
Groups
The Departmental Telegram groups provide a monitored platform for students to discuss academic and
related matters. Two types of groups are employed: module groups and year groups.
Module groups
Module groups are used to communicate about any academic-related topics e.g. homework,
assignments, practicals, etc. These groups provide an excellent "virtual study community" where
students can benefit from peer-learning. Communication may be among students, or among students
and the module's teaching team. A module's Telegram group also provides an excellent platform to
discuss matters with the class representatives.
Telegram will also be used to manage communication during online assessments for modules
presented by our Department. The module's telegram group will then serve as a virtual examination
venue (VEV). Please make sure that you
1. know how to send a message as well as pictures taken with your phone's camera using this
platform, and
2. what your lecturer'sTelegram username is so that you can contact him/her privately if
necessary
before the start of an examination or assessment session.
Rules for VEVs
1. During the examination or assessment, all the examination regulations of the University of
Pretoria apply, e.g. you may not "chat" on the VEV group from the moment that the
examination question paper goes live at the start of the grace download/access period until
the grace upload/submission period concludes.
2. Students are NOT allowed to post any messages on the VEV during an online assessment.
3. All messages must be sent privately to the module lecturer who will relay important
information to the VEV. Students who do not adhere to these rules will be blocked from all
EECE VEVs.
Year groups
To keep the communication channels open between our students and the Department, four
consolidated Telegram groups have been created for the four year-groups. Links to the present year's
groups may be found on the EECE Undergraduate Students ClickUP module under
Communication.
Note that these groups will be retained for the duration of a group's academic career, i.e. the first-year
2020 group will become the second-year 2021 group, then the third-year 2022 group and finally the
fourth-year 2023 group. You may join year groups for all modules that you are registered for, e.g. if you
are registered for second and third-year modules, you may join both the second-year and third-year
groups.
The groups are maintained to serve the EECE students and may thus be used to
● communicate about student community issues e,g, general matters that may impact on
students' well-being on campus.
● communicate with the class representatives on a neutral platform (i.e. not on one of the
module groups).
● communicate arrangements about class projects, e.g. printing a class T-shirt, etc.
3.5.2 External sites and platforms

Please note that it is not allowable to host any materials that have their origin at the University of
Pretoria on private platforms with the objective of making it publicly available. This includes any form
of repositories of learning materials that are not hosted by the University itself as such materials are
copyrighted by the University of Pretoria. Students are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the
Intellectual Property (IP) and Copyright policies of the University of Pretoria.
4. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON LECTURES AND CLASS
ATTENDANCE
Lectures are presented in a style of co-operative and student-centred learning. Lecture content and
structure is based on the prescribed and recommended study material. Note, however, that various
problems and examples that are not in the prescribed textbook(s) or study materials may be discussed
during lectures.
Attendance of all lectures, including pre-practical and tutorial sessions, is compulsory and a register of
attendance may be taken on a regular basis. Please note the following:
● A lecture is a formal appointment between the lecturer and the student. If a lecture is missed
because of a valid reason such as illness or death in the family, the student should send an
email apology to the lecturer stating the reason for his/her absence.
● Students who miss a lecture for invalid reasons or without excuse may forfeit their right to
consultation on the material that was covered in the lecture.
● Students who miss more than three (3) lectures, equivalent to 95% attendance, throughout
the course of the semester, for invalid reasons may forfeit their right to any consultation in the
module for which the lectures were missed, and may not be eligible for concessions in the
module, e.g. consideration by the Department's examination refusal committee for entry into
the examination in borderline cases. The final decision regarding the application of these
penalties will lie with the lecturer of the specific module and a student will not be allowed to
appeal in cases where lecturers decide to strictly apply these penalties.
● Important announcements with respect to laboratory sessions, assignments, tutorials and
discussion of test content may be made during lectures. Non-attendance of lectures shall not
be acceptable as an excuse for failure to attend or complete sessions or assignments scheduled
during lecture times.
● Progressive evaluation and presence tests: students are expected to prepare for classes. The
lecturer may at any time administer a class test on the material covered thus far in the module
as well as the material that had to be prepared for that specific lecture. These test marks may
contribute to the semester mark according to the details published in the module-specific
study guide.
● As a rule no lectures will be cancelled unless extraordinary circumstances apply.
5. DEPARTMENTAL APPROACH TO AND POLICY ON HYBRID
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Since the beginning of 2016 the University actively started to adopt a hybrid teaching and learning
approach to enrich the learning experience of students and exploit the advantages that technology
offers to improve the efficiency of teaching strategies. This decision followed research that showed
that a hybrid approach leads to greater levels of student success than models that rely solely on online
or face-to-face teaching. The University of Pretoria defines a hybrid approach to teaching and learning
as a strategy that is characterised by different combinations of contact and online delivery. A choice is
made by the lecturer to replace some contact time with online time. The module is redesigned from an
instructional design perspective to ensure integration and coherence and to achieve the aims of the
hybrid model. These aims can be broadly summarised as (i) to allow students to access a wider array of
learning resources, (ii) to exploit the affordances of online technologies, (iii) to develop students as
self-regulated learners, (iv) to make individualised learning more achievable, and (v) to enable students
to remain in contact with and interact with lecturers, fellow students and resources.
Being a technology-driven entity, the Department of EECE realised the potential of

technology-supported education early on and initialised the development of innovative technological
support for a number of modules around 2010 and also adopted extensive use of the University's
online teaching and learning platform ClickUP in our modules since 2013. As such the Department
observes a broader definition of hybrid teaching and learning that includes a wide range of
augmentative technology to support teaching and learning. An example of innovative technological
support that was developed in and by the Department of EECE is the Judicator assessment
management system discussed in paragraph 8.6 below.
The Department of EECE is continuously adjusting the delicate balance among the various available
teaching and learning resources to optimize student success while maintaining excellent standards that
are on par with the quality of engineering education that is offered by recognised international
institutions. With the University's formal adoption of the hybrid approach, the Department will further
develop technological support for teaching and learning, which will include a hybrid approach to
contact time where some face-to-face activities will be replaced by online activities where appropriate
and feasible. This will expand our current portfolio of technology support for teaching and learning. A
brief outline of technology supported teaching and learning strategies, of which an appropriate
selection and combination is applied in each module as determined by the department, lecturer and
content of the module, is given below. During times of restricted campus access, it may be necessary
to rely more heavily on the strategies listed and students are expected to be competent in the use of
the tools that enable the specific technology-supported teaching and learning strategies that are
followed in each module.
Students are encouraged to prepare an off-campus study environment where they have access to
computing facilities and the internet to enable them to participate in hybrid teaching and learning
activities. A dedicated personal or laptop computer with broadband internet access is preferable, but
internet cafes are also suitable to allow participation in most online activities. Smart phones and tablet
computers offer limited computing functionality and should not be relied on as primary computing
devices. A buddy system where students can share off-campus resources is also encouraged since
many online activities may be undertaken in small groups.
The hybrid/online approach to teaching and learning that will be followed in the department may,
among others, involve any one or more of the following.
● Tutorial lectures: students may be required to complete tutorial assignments at home while
some or all face-to-face discussions of the assignments are replaced by online discussions
through a discussion platform such as ClickUP's Blackboard Collaborate or ClickUP Discussion
Forums. Online tutorials will be presented in the tutorial periods as scheduled in the normal
timetable unless other arrangements are made.
● Video lectures: suitable content may be presented through pre-recorded video material or live
through Blackboard Collaborate or other video conferencing platforms. Live online lectures
will be presented in the lecture periods as scheduled in the normal timetable unless other
arrangements are made.
● Video tutorials: step-by-step instruction on selected topics, e.g. the use of laboratory
equipment, specific software, preparation for practical assignments, etc. to support content on
these topics that were delivered during face-to-face contact sessions.
Other online/technology support that is available in the Department includes the following.
● Departmental undergraduate ClickUP platform to support the entire EECE undergraduate
student body. This platform also contains study resources such as video tutorials on the use of
laboratory equipment2.
● Electronic grading of tests and examinations.
● EECE Telegram groups (refer to EECE Undergraduate Students ClickUP for general degree group
links3 and module ClickUP for module group links).
● Re-deployment of tests and examinations for which electronic grading is available as an online
computerised tutoring system in selected modules.
2
Links to resources that are applicable to students outside the Department of EECE are provided in the module
study or practical guides or on the module's ClickUP pages.
3
These groups are only for EECE students.
6. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON ASSIGNMENTS
As a default policy, all assignments that contribute to the semester mark must be submitted to be
eligible to gain entry into the examination of a module, i.e. if the module study guide does not specify
the rules of assessment for assignments, this policy applies. Arrangements regarding submission of
assignments stated in the module study guide take precedence if different from the default policy
stated here.
Please note the following.
● If a hardcopy of an assignment needs to be handed in, a student needs to make a copy of the
assignment before handing it in. Hardcopies of assignments must be signed in on a list kept by
either the lecturer, assistant lecturer or the secretary for the module. If this procedure is not
followed, the assignment shall not count towards the semester mark since no record will be
available to verify submission of assignments.
● If a softcopy of an assignment needs to be submitted via the AMS or ClickUP, it is the student's
responsibility to ensure that the assignment is submitted on time. Problems with connectivity
off-campus will not be an excuse for non-submission or late-submission of assignments. Refer
to paragraph 8.4 below for the submission protocol for non-session-based assessments.
6.1 Standard cover page for all assignments
A statement of originality is required for all assessment submissions in theDepartment of EECE. Note
that
● an originality statement is already included in the form of a tick box on assessments that are
submitted to the Judicator AMS, i.e. the inclusion of the statement(s) below is optional.
● submissions to ClickUP may require the inclusion of the statement(s) below. Please refer to
and follow the submission instructions communicated by the lecturer as no disputes in this
regard will be entertained.
6.1.1 Group assignments

All group assignments must contain the table and declaration below. Assignments that do not contain
these items will not be accepted, i.e. it will be regarded as not submitted.
Name and Surname Student number Signature % contribution

S. Tudent 12345678 20
S.T. Udent 23456789 35
S.T.U. Dent 34567890 45
By signing this assignment we confirm that we have read and are aware of the University of
Pretoria's policy on academic dishonesty and plagiarism and we declare that the work
submitted in this assignment is our own as delimited by the mentioned policies. We explicitly
declare that no parts of this assignment have been copied from current or previous students'
work (including our own in cases where the module is repeated) or any other sources
(including the internet), whether copyrighted or not. We understand that we will be
subjected to disciplinary actions should it be found that the work we submit here does not
comply with the said policies.
For the example above, the final mark for each student will be calculated as follows:
Assume a mark of 8/10 for the assignment.
● S.T.U. Dent gets 8/10

● S.T. Udent gets 8/10 x 35/45 = 6.2/10
● S. Tudent gets 8/10 x 20/45 = 3.6/10
Students are encouraged to be honest in the specification of the percentage contribution of each
group member, since it is another exercise in professional conduct as well as development of self and
peer assessment skills. Integrity is an essential part of professionalism. Self and peer assessment are
vital skills when working on and managing engineering projects.
6.1.2 Individual assignments

All individual assignments must contain the table and declaration below. Assignments that do not
contain these items will not be accepted, i.e. it will be regarded as not submitted. A template for the
individual assignment submission page is available on the EECE Undergraduate ClickUP page.
Name and Surname Student number Signature

S. Tudent 12345678
By signing this assignment I confirm that I have read and am aware of the University of
Pretoria's policy on academic dishonesty and plagiarism and I declare that the work
submitted in this assignment is my own as delimited by the mentioned policies. I explicitly
declare that no parts of this assignment have been copied from current or previous students'
work (including my own in cases where the module is repeated) or any other sources
(including the internet), whether copyrighted or not. I understand that I will be subjected to
disciplinary actions should it be found that the work I submit here does not comply with the
said policies.
7. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON LABORATORY WORK
7.1 Rules regarding laboratory work

Attendance of all practical sessions is compulsory, i.e. failure to attend a practical session
immediately disqualifies a student from entry into the examination of a module. The schedule for
the practical sessions and division of groups (if applicable) will be provided by the lecturer.
Please note the following.
● According to the yearbook, most modules have one 45 minute practical period allocated per
lecture week. This amounts to a total of 12 x 45 minutes = 9 hours of practical time in formal
sessions. This is usually implemented as 3 x 3-hour practical sessions during the semester.
Some modules may have 2 x 45 minute practical periods per week, which would then be
structured to be implemented in a number of longer sessions. A module's practical guide or
study guide provides specific information about the structure of practical time.
● Simulation assignments may be used to support and complement laboratory-based practicals,
but are mostly not used to replace laboratory-based practicals – a few exceptions apply and
are delineated in the specific study guides of those modules. This is the minimum requirement
and the number of practical assignments may be increased depending on the nature of the
module. If online tuition must be used, it may be necessary to rely on simulation-based
practical work. Details about the approach to practical work is provided in the practical guides
for each module.
● Group or team work is a necessary component of the engineering skill set that graduates need
to cope in industry. Because of limited resources, most practicals in the Department have to be
completed in teams or groups. If resources allow, a student may choose to complete practical
assignments on his/her own. No accommodation in terms of the scope or due date for
practical assignments will be made for students who wish to work individually. Speak to your
lecturer if you would like to work individually. However, please note that the decision of
whether this will be allowed lies with the lecturer.
● If a student or group attends a practical session unprepared, it will be regarded as
non-attendance of the practical session, i.e. immediate disqualification from exam entrance in
the module. The default minimum requirement for practical attendance is that half of the
subminimum requirements for a practical assignment have been met. Refer to the module
study guide for specific details about pass requirements for the practical section of each
module.
● Keeping a laboratory notebook ("lab book") as described in a module's practical guide is
compulsory. The lab book may be assessed as part of the mark for each practical. Notes on
keeping a laboratory notebook are given on the EECE Undergraduate ClickUP page.
● Practical reports form part of the assessment criteria for laboratory work and submission of
all practical reports, completed to a satisfactory level, is compulsory. Please refer to the EECE
Undergraduate ClickUP module for information on compiling reports.
● The subminimum for the practical component of a module is 50%. This may be either 50% on
average or 50% for each practical as specified in the module specific study guide. Additional
subminima may apply as specified in the assessment schedule for each module.
● No practical exemptions will be allowed in second- to final-year modules presented by the
Department of EECE. The modules rely on the practicals for deeper insight into the application
of the theoretical content. Therefore, just as it is not possible to request exemption from
writing the examination on chapters in a module's textbook on which a student passed
selected assessment components during a previous attempt, it is not possible to request
exemption from the practical component in a module. The all-or-none principle thus holds: if a
student fails a module, they have to repeat the entire module irrespective of the subsections
that might have been passed on a previous attempt.
7.2 Laboratory rules and access

The rules that regulate access to and use of all Departmental laboratories may be found at
Undergraduate - General Laboratory Rules | Article.
The laboratories are open for use by AUTHORIZED users only, during normal office hours. The
Department aims to provide after-hours access when human resources to manage such access are
available. Please contact Mr Helmut Schütte ([email protected]) or Mr Willem van Jaarsveld
([email protected]) for information about laboratory access.
7.3 Components for practical assignments

In general, students are required to purchase components to complete practical assignments in the
same way as students are required to purchase textbooks. Component costs are thus, as a general rule,
not included in class fees.
In some modules, selected prescribed components or hardware kits are purchased against students'
class fees as bulk discounts can be negotiated with manufacturers or suppliers. Note, however, that it
may still be necessary to purchase additional components to complete practical assignments in these
modules. Please consult the practical guides for each module for details about component purchases.
It is important to realise that the process of specifying, choosing and sourcing components is an
integral part of the design process, which in turn, is an integral part of engineering. For this reason, it is
imperative that students are not generally provided with all components that are necessary to
complete practical assignments but are allowed to apply their knowledge in choosing appropriate
components.
The EECE Undergraduate Students ClickUP module provide details
● about component suppliers, and

● about the EECE component bank, which is a student-driven community service project that
aims to redistribute used electronic components to needy students. Students who graduate
are encouraged to donate components that they will no longer require to this worthy initiative.
8. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON ASSESSMENT
Also refer to General regulation G12.5, the Faculty rules and the UP Policy on Examinations and related
matters.
8.1 Tests and examinations

8.1.1 On-line vs on-campus assessment
Various situations may dictate different modes of assessment. The main forms that tests and
examinations may assume and the typical situations that may require these are given in the Table
below. Combinations of these assessment formats, e.g. a combination of Formats 2 and 3 below, may
also be employed as communicated by the lecturer of a module.
Format Typical Notes

circumstances
1 Sit-down invigilated No restrictions on Open or closed-book

(paper-based) campus access Hardcopies of question paper
Paper-based answer scripts
No penalty or grace periods apply
Special circumstances during assessment
- handled during the session
Absence
- standard rules and regulations apply
2 Sit-down invigilated No restrictions on Open or closed-book

(electronic campus access Hard and/or softcopies of question paper
submission; Electronic answer submission
session-based) Administered via JAMS or ClickUP
No upload or download grace periods, but
10-minute penalty period is applicable
Absence
3 Sit-down invigilated No restrictions to Open or closed-book

(OCR form-based; campus access Hard and/or softcopies of question paper
session-based) OCR form-based answer scripts
Administered via JAMS or ClickUP
No penalty or grace periods apply
Absence
4 Take-home Not applicable Open-book
assignment Softcopies of question paper
(electronic Electronic answer submission
submission; Administered via JAMS or ClickUP
non-session based) Standard penalty and grace periods apply
- handled during assisted upload period
Absence
- Requirement: submit what you have
5 Online Restricted Open-book

(electronic campus access Softcopies of question paper
session-based) Administered via JAMS or ClickUP
Standard penalty and grace periods apply
Virtual examination venue
- semester assessments
- examination assessments
Absence
6 Online Restricted Open-book

(electronic campus access Softcopies of question paper
non-session based) Administered via JAMS or ClickUP
Standard penalty and grace periods apply
Virtual examination venue
- handled during assisted upload period
Absence
- Requirement: submit what you have
8.1.2 General test and examination arrangements

Two semester tests are written in each module during the scheduled test weeks. They count towards
the semester mark as specified in the module study guide. Any number of class tests may also be
written and may count towards the semester mark.
Please note that all tests that count towards the semester mark must be written to be eligible to gain
entry into the examination for a module.
Tests and examinations may be either open or closed-book.
● Closed-book tests require that the student has no access to study materials during the test or
examination.
● Open-book tests allow students to have free or limited access to study materials.
o If limited access to study materials is allowed, all allowed materials must be
standardised, e.g. prescribed textbooks and/or other materials, e.g. datasheets,
lecturer-compiled equation sheets, etc. None of these materials may contain any
personalised notes. These materials may be inspected at any time during a test or
examination. Students may not share these materials during tests or examinations.
o If free access to study materials is allowed, any materials may be used during the test
or examination. This mode of examination also allows for lecturers to have students
compile a summary of any materials that they wish to use in a test or an examination.
No control over the content of such a summary is exerted. Students may not share
these materials during tests or examinations.
8.2 Entrance into the examination of a module

The examination entry requirements for each module are stated in the assessment schedule as
provided in the module's study guide.
8.3 Composition of the final mark

The default composition for the final mark is 50% semester mark and 50% examination mark. However,
the breakdown as given in the specific study guide for a module takes preference if different from the
preceding breakdown.
8.4 Computer-based assessment submission protocol4

To make it easier for students to keep track of online submissions, standard submission schedules are
applied across all the EECE undergraduate modules. Note the distinction between session-based and
non-session based assessments. Session-based assessments have specific start and end times and are
typically less than 12 hours in duration, e.g. tests, practicals, etc. Some longer session-based
assessments may be scheduled, e.g. take-home exams in some of the senior-year modules.
Non-session-based assessments are completed over a longer duration and may not have a clearly
defined start time, but always have a specific end time. This includes assessments such as assignments
and reports.
8.4.1 Session-based assessments
On-campus assessments
Computer-based on-campus assessments
● are written in the computer laboratories on campus (it will not be possible to submit the
assessment from another device than a University laboratory computer),
4
This section of the study guide may be revised once contact classes resume.
● are invigilated,
● may be open or closed book (no e-materials that are not part of the software image of the
computer or can be downloaded as part of the assessment material may be used unless
otherwise specified by the lecturer), and
● no mobile or personal computing devices are allowed since there is no need for virtual
examination venues (VEVs).
Submission protocol
i. The official submission time for an on-campus session-based assessment (green arrow in the
figure below) will be followed by a 10 minute penalty period during which students may
submit their electronic scripts at a 10% penalty. No late submissions (beyond the penalty
period indicated with the red arrow in the figure below) will be accepted on the official
assessment platform (e.g. ClickUP or the AMS).
ii. Non-submission of an on-campus assessment will receive a mark of 0%.
iii. The all or none principle holds for the 10-minute penalty period. By submitting one upload
late, a student afforded themselves more time on the other submissions and hence all uploads
will be penalized.
The figure below illustrates the sequence of events.
All special circumstances during the assessment must be dealt with by the lecturer or assistant
lecturer or invigilating officer on the spot.
Online assessments
Online assessments refer to assessments where students can partici[ate in the assessment from
anywhere where they have internet access. These assessments are typically
● managed through a virtual examination venue (VEV) Telegram group,
● not invigilated and rely on students' integrity,
● open book, though students must consult the study guide and assessment instructions to
ascertain which materials are allowable.
Submission protocol
i. The official submission time for a session-based assessment (green arrow in the figure below)
will be followed by an Upload Grace Period during which students may not continue working
on the assessment, but must submit their answers. Any challenges with a submission must be
communicated to the lecturer via email or Telegram during the first 10 minutes (600 seconds)
of the upload grace period. No late submissions (beyond the penalty period indicated with the
red arrow in the figure below) will be accepted on the official assessment platform (e.g.
ClickUP or the AMS) or via any backup submission channel (all backup submission channels,
such as Telegram, are for submission by the submission deadline).
ii. Students with a valid reason for not attempting nor submitting by the final deadline (red
arrow), whether it be illness or other extraordinary/special circumstances, must apply to write
the sick test or the extraordinary/special test (which will be written at the same time as the
sick test) through the relevant online form within 3 days of missing the assessment. Supporting
documentation will be required to motivate the application.
iii. In cases of technical difficulties during the assessment, please refer to the section about
extraordinary/special circumstances during online session-based assessments below.
iv. Note that it will unfortunately not be possible to accommodate any requests about late
submissions that have not been communicated to the lecturer within the first 10 minutes (600
seconds) of the upload grace period.
v. The all or none principle holds for the 10-minute penalty period. By submitting one upload
late, a student afforded themselves more time on the other submissions and hence all uploads
will be penalized.
Extraordinary/special circumstances: semester assessments
1. If a student accessed an online assessment, he/she is deemed to have attempted the
assessment. This implies that a student that accessed a session-based assessment is not
eligible to apply for a sick assessment even if he/she did not submit the assessment.
2. All students must upload a verification submission (i.e. a submission to test the internet
connection and access to the assessment platform) before the end of the 15-minute download
grace period (start of session) or at least within 15 minutes thereafter (i.e within 30 minutes
after the assessment became available). The default verification submission is an empty file or
template, but the lecturer may instruct students to submit an alternative document for this
purpose.
a. If the verification submission fails, the student must inform the lecturer immediately. If
no verification submission was uploaded and/or a student did not report problems
with the verification submission, extraordinary/special circumstances will not be
considered because the student did not verify his/her technical infrastructure
timeously.
b. If the verification submission was successful and problems develop later, the student
must inform the lecturer immediately when he/she becomes aware of the problem.
The lecturer will instruct the student on how to proceed. Also see point 3 below.
3. No circumstances that are reported to the lecturer after 10 minutes (600 seconds) into the
upload grace period (at the end of the session) will be considered as valid reasons to support
extraordinary/special measures to accommodate such circumstances. Also, refer to point 2
above. This includes slow connections, i.e. if a student started an upload within 10 minutes
into the grace upload period and the upload appears to be so slow that it will not finish within
the remaining 5 minutes of the 15-minute upload grace period, the student needs to alert the
lecturer immediately (the message must reach the lecturer before the end of 10 minutes into
the upload grace period).
4. No upload or any other submission whatsoever that is received once the grace upload period
of 15 minutes (900 seconds) has passed will be accepted without penalty during the 10-minute
(600-second) penalty period, or at all after the 10-minute (600-second) penalty period has
expired
a. unless the lecturer received communication from the student before the first 10
minutes (600 seconds) of the upload grace period expired,
b. only if the lecturer agreed in writing (email) or per instant messaging platform
(Telegram) at that point to accept submissions that will reach him/her within a
reasonable time (minutes) after the official submission deadlines.
5. The lecturer will decide during the assessment period, if and when a student reports an issue,
how to deal with the situation and will communicate this decision at this point to the student.
One of the following two special measures may be followed:
a. If the student can provide documentary proof of a situation that will prevent them
from submitting the assessment in any way (JAMS, ClickUP, email, Telegram, etc), the
lecturer may advise the student to apply for an extraordinary/special assessment.
Refer to point 7 below for the documentary proof that will be required for such an
application. Only applications that were referred by the lecturer will be considered for
extraordinary/special assessments due to technical issues during an assessment.
b. The lecturer may instruct the student to submit assessment files through other means,
such as email or Telegram. Note that this has to be arranged between the lecturer and
the student during the valid assessment time.
6. All applications for extraordinary/special assessments, as referred by a lecturer, must be done

via the online application form for extraordinary/special and sick assessments within 3 (three)
working days of the date of the assessment (but preferably on the day of the assessment). No
late applications will be considered.
7. Three documents are required to prove extraordinary/special circumstances during an

assessment (no application that lacks any of the three will be considered):
a. A screenshot or copy of the communication with the lecturer at the point where the
problem occurred. Initiation of such communication (ie. the first message from the
student to report the problem) had to be received by the lecturer at the latest ten
minutes (600 seconds) into the grace upload period.
b. A 300 character (maximum) description of the problem.
c. Proof of the problem, e.g. internet problems or a power failure. Proof of the problem
is limited to one of the following (in order of preference): (i) an official notice from the
service provider, (ii) a declaration from the building manager, landlord or landlady
where the assessment was written stating the nature and period of the problem and
their contact details so that the situation may be confirmed with this person; the
declaration also needs to be accompanied by a photo or screenshot to verify the
situation, or (3) as a last resort, an affidavit by the student stating the nature and
period of the problem, accompanied by a photo or screenshot to verify the situation.
Please refer to General regulation A22 that states that an affidavit will not be accepted
unless it is accompanied by the relevant substantiating documentation.
8. If an extraordinary/special assessment is approved, the lecturer may choose to (i) grade a

student's assessment from a pro-rata total mark corresponding to the instance of the last
submission on the system, or (ii) to allow the student to sit for an extraordinary/special
assessment that will usually be taken with the sick test. This need not be consistently applied
within one assessment, i.e. the way in which an extraordinary/special assessment is applied for
a particular student is the prerogative of the lecturer and will be based on the time and
circumstances when a problem was reported.
9. The following do not qualify as extraordinary/special circumstances during a session-based

assessment:
a. a noisy or otherwise unfavourable environment,
b. loss of wifi without mobile data as a backup to contact the lecturer,
c. data that ran out,
d. illness (if one sits for an assessment, you declare yourself fit to do so),
e. battery running out (unless there is a power failure).
Extraordinary/special circumstances: examinations

Rules 1 to 3 for Extraordinary/special circumstances during online session-based semester
assessments apply as well as the following.
1. Submissions outside the official assessment platform (e.g. via email or Telegram) will only be
considered if the student arranged this method of submission with the lecturer during the
valid assessment period and such submissions reached the lecturer before the final submission
time expired.
2. No submission, irrespective of the pathway of submission, will be accepted once the final
upload time has expired.
3. No concessions will be considered for submissions during the 10-minute penalty period, i.e.
the penalty will be enforced.
4. Submissions outside the official assessment platform (e.g. via email or Telegram) that reach
the lecturer within the penalty period will be subject to the standard 10% penalty.
5. All applications for special assessments based on technical difficulties need to be submitted to
EBIT Faculty administration. Note that the Department does not administer this process and
that applications to rewrite examinations are typically not approved.
8.4.2 Non-session-based assessments (e.g. assignments, reports)
Submission protocol
i. The default official submission time for all non-session-based submissions will be 15:00 on the
day of the submission as indicated by the green arrow in the figure below.
ii. The official submission time will be followed by an Assisted Upload Grace Period during which
the module's AL(s) will be available to assist students who experienced challenges with
uploading their submissions. The default Assisted Upload Grace Period will be from 15:00 until
16:00 on the day of submission.
iii. The Assisted Upload Grace Period will be followed by an Unassisted Upload Grace Period that
will extend from 16:00 until 23:59 on the day of submission. Students may still upload
assignments during this period at no penalty, but at their own risk, i.e. it will unfortunately not
be possible to accommodate any challenges experienced by students during this period.
iv. At midnight on the day of the submission, a 24 hour penalty period will commence during
which the penalty is increased every 6 hours (or part thereof) as indicated in the figure below.
Note that submissions during the penalty periods will unfortunately not be assisted.
v. Students with a valid reason (such as illness or other extraordinary/special circumstances) for
not submitting by the end of the Assisted Upload Grace Period (i.e. by 16:00 on the due date)
must (i) contact the lecturer about their circumstances by the official submission time, (ii)
make an arrangement with the lecturer to submit their assignment/report/practical as soon as
they are able to do so, and (iii) apply for an extraordinary/special assessment through the
online form available on the Semester tests, marks and related matters page on the EECE
Undergraduate Students 2020 ClickUP within 3 days of missing the assessment. Supporting
documentation will be required to motivate the application. If the extraordinary/special
assessment is granted, the default is that a late submission will be graded without penalty,
unless the lecturer provides an alternative assignment that will be graded instead. Note the
requirement to upload "what you have" by the due date, i.e. a doctor's note for the submission
date may only absolve a student from submitting the very last work that would have been
done on the date covered by the sick note.
vi. Note that these arrangements exclude Project EPR400/402. Please consult the Project
website or contact the Project lecturer directly for arrangements regarding submission of
reports.
All extraordinary or special circumstances are managed during the Assisted Upload Grace Period.
8.5 Absence from formal evaluation opportunities and
practical sessions
8.5.1 Absence from assessments during the semester, e.g. tests,
practical sessions and assignments
In case of illness, crises5 or when extraordinary/special circumstances apply, undergraduate students in
the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering may apply for sick (aegrotat) or
extraordinary/special assessments. A sick (aegrotat) assessment is only considered for students that
could not complete an assessment due to illness as supported by a valid medical certificate. An
extraordinary/special assessment may be considered upon a student supplying evidence for any other
reason that prevented him/her from participating in an assessment, e.g. death in the family, a funeral
of an immediate family member, etc.
Please note the following requirements for a valid medical certificate from the UP General Rules and
Regulations:
1. Only medical certificates issued by persons and practitioners registered with the Health
Professions Council of South Africa or the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa will
be accepted.
2. Medical certificates must contain the practice number, address, contact details and signature
of the particular practitioner who issued the certificate. The certificate must clearly identify
the student and must reflect that a consultation took place and/or that the student was
examined on a specific date. The certificate must furthermore indicate the specific days during
which the student is unfit to participate in academic activities.
3. A medical certificate will not be accepted if it merely states that the student appeared ill or
declared himself or herself unfit.
Similarly, also note that per the UP General Rules and Regulations the general rules regarding affidavits
and religion related requests:
In the event that there are other valid reasons, apart from illness, for absence from an
assessment opportunity (tests and examinations etc.), an affidavit will not be accepted unless
it is accompanied by the relevant substantiating documentation.
When students request to be absent from any examination, test, class, practical module or
other academic commitment, including a test or examination scheduled on a Saturday, due to
religious convictions, they must approach their faculty student administration … with a
written request to be excused from such academic obligations. This request must be supported
by a letter from the relevant church, congregation or religious leader that confirms that the
5
Circumstances that are the result of negligence from the student's side are not considered a crisis.
student is an active member of that church, congregation or religious group, and the particular
date needs to be approved based on the tenets of that religion.
No sick or extraordinary/special assessment will be allowed without a formal application for any
assessment that counts towards the semester mark, including class tests, semester tests, practicals and
practical tests.
In the event of absence from tests, practical sessions and when compulsory assignments are not
handed in due to an unforeseen event, e.g. illness or crises, an application for an aegrotat or special
assessment must be submitted within three working days of the date of the assessment.
In the event of absence from tests, practical sessions and when compulsory assignments are not
handed in due to a scheduled event, e.g. any event for which prior arrangements had to be made such
as funerals, ceremonies, religious days, etc. an application for an extraordinary/special assessment
must be submitted at least five working days before the date of the assessment or, if arrangements are
made closer than 5 days before the assessment, as soon as the student becomes aware of the event,
but still before the test is written/practical takes place/assignment has to be submitted. Note that
● no application for an aegrotat or extraordinary/special assessment based on a scheduled event
will be allowed after an assessment took place.
● the lecturer must be informed as soon as a student applies for an extraordinary/special
assessment due to a scheduled event in case an alternative arrangement can be agreed upon.
All non-session-based assessments6, i.e. assessments of which the duration extends beyond a few
hours, must be submitted by the due date. If a student was sick or experienced extraordinary/special
circumstances during the preparation time for the assessment, (i) an updated assessment may be
submitted to replace the initial submission after an equivalent number of weekdays for which the
student can produce documentary evidence of the situation (a sick note or other valid proof of
circumstances), and (ii) the student must apply within three days of missing the assignment due date
for a sick or extraordinary/special assessment according to the Departmental policy. If the progress in
the initial submission does not reflect a pro-rata relation to the preparation time that was available for
the assessment, grading of the updated assignment may be refused. Approval of a student's
application for a sick or extraordinary/special assessment via the departmental administrative process
will in such cases only indicate a valid application, but the decision of whether grading of the updated
submission is warranted or not (based on the completion status of the assessment on the due date) is
the prerogative of the lecturer.
Students have to inform their lecturer no later than on the original due date of the assessment of their
application for an extension due to sickness. The lecturer will assess the student's progress at that
point and communicate an extended due date if applicable.
6
Excluding Project EPR400 reports for which there is an alternative arrangement as published in the study guide
and/or ClickUP.
8.5.2 Rules and regulations applicable to sick (aegrotat) and special
assessments
Before applying for a sick or special assessment, familiarize yourself with
● General regulation 12: Assessments (Examinations, tests and essays) in the current version of
the RULES AND REGULATIONS of the University of Pretoria, and
● the EBIT Faculty regulations and information.
Both documents can be found at http://www.up.ac.za/yearbooks/home
8.5.3 Absence for participation in sport and other extramural activities

The University's official policy is that if a student will be participating in a sporting or other extramural
event where they will represent the University, the student has to apply to the Dean of the Faculty of
EBIT for permission to apply for a special assessment. Unfortunately, students cannot be excused for
participation in sport and other activities for which they will not be representing the University.
Note that special assessments are limited to assessments that are already available, e.g. the sick test.
This implies that no additional assessments will be made available in cases where a student cannot
participate in all the prescribed assessments or their scheduled alternatives.
The student has to submit the permission from the Dean together with the letter from TuksSport or
other official extramural UP organization to the online form (see below). Note the requirement to
submit the necessary documentation five working days before the assessment.
8.5.4 Modules presented by other departments

Please note that students need to apply for sick/special assessments to the Department that presents
the module, e.g. the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering for MGC110 and the
Department of Mathematics for the WTW modules. Information about the application procedures in
other departments will be provided in the study guide of the particular module.
8.5.5 Applications for sick (aegrotat) or special assessments

ALL APPLICATIONS FOR SICK/SPECIAL SEMESTER ASSESSMENTS MUST BE SUBMITTED VIA MINSTRO
("Absence Notes" tab)
● WITHIN 3 WORKING DAYS FROM THE ASSESSMENT if the absence was due to illness or crises.
● AT LEAST 5 WORKING DAYS BEFORE THE ASSESSMENT if an assessment will be missed due to
a scheduled event.
Have a scanned copy of your supporting documentation ready to upload with your application. Please
submit the original hard copy of the supporting document to Mrs Ndala's office (Eng 1, room 15-8) at
least 3 working days before the date of the sick or extraordinary/special assessment.
Please note:
● No alternative assessment opportunities will be considered if not applied for through

MINSTRO.
● You cannot apply for a sick or extraordinary/special assessment if you participated in the
original assessment. By participating in an assessment, you declare yourself fit to be assessed.
● Submitting a sick note if you were not ill constitutes fraud. Students who are caught out will
promptly be charged with misconduct and may be expelled from the University if found guilty.
● Also refer to the sections on Extraordinary/special circumstances during online session-based
semester assessments.
8.5.6 Absence from examinations

In the event of absence from an examination an official and valid statement (e.g. a medical certificate)
has to be submitted to EBIT administration via your student portal within three days of the date of the
examination.
Please refer to the Process to Apply for Sick or Special Examination step sheet for instructions to apply
for sick or extraordinary/special examinations.
8.6 Assessment management

Two online assessment platforms are used by the Department: ClickUP and the Judicator Assessment
Management System (JAMS).
8.6.1 Judicator AMS

The Department makes use of an in-house developed software platform, the Judicator Assessment
Management System (JAMS), to
1. administer assessments that has an electronic grading component,

2. facilitate various methods of electronic grading of assessments,
3. provide an overview of a student's marks and compliance with subminima, and
4. facilitate perusal of assessments (see below).
The rules about e-grading can be found at bit.ly/EECE_EGradingRules.
8.6.2 ClickUP
Details about ClickUP assessments are provided in the module study guides or via ClickUP for modules
that make use of this platform for assessment.
8.7 Perusals, queries and remarking of scripts
An important part of assessment is feedback to students. In the Department of EECE feedback may be
either by hand-grading on paper assessments or via the JAMS platform for a combination of
rubric-graded or algorithmic-graded assessments.
8.7.1 Perusals
Please note the perusal/JAMS-query information for all assessments:
1. There are four things that must/may happen in a perusal and which are accommodated by
both paper-based and the JAMS query/perusal system:
i. A perusal session must be arranged during which students may have access to their
scripts and the memo. Note that a lecturer is not obliged to provide perusal access to
students outside of the formal perusal session.
ii. Students may check whether all their questions are graded, i.e. that no question was
accidentally left out when the assessment was graded.
iii. Students may report (query) an error in the memo if they suspect that there might be
one.
iv. For e-graded assessments administered through the JAMS platform, students may
report an alternative, though possibly correct interpretation of a question
substantiated with a clear explanation and justification of this alternative. It is the
lecturer's prerogative to decide whether such an alternative is valid or not.
2. The following will under no circumstances be allowed in a perusal:
i. Begging for marks.
ii. Insisting on partial marks for incorrect answers. ("Fishing" for marks.)
iii. Specifically for the JAMS system, inputting numerous questions' queries into one query
because one has a low query rating (see below) and thus fewer queries than the
maximum number allowed.
iv. Questioning the approach to grading, i.e. insisting that the lecturer must grade in
another way because the student does not agree with the way in which the lecturer
graded the papers. The way in which a question paper is set and graded is the
lecturer's prerogative. Students are allowed to discuss the reasoning for a lecturer's
decision in this regard, but students are not allowed to demand an alternative
approach.
Additionally for examinations, the following apply.
3. It is against the regulations to contact a moderator or external examiner and students who do
this may be reported for academic misconduct.
4. Queries that do not fit into the four items under point 1 above, must be dealt with through a
formal application to EBIT Faculty administration to request a re-mark of a student's question
paper. In this case, an independent examiner will be appointed. He/she will receive the
question paper, memorandum and the student's script, and then regrade the entire script
"from scratch" according to the question paper and memorandum. The mark awarded by the
external examiner will be the final mark for the assessment.
8.7.2 Judicator AMS Query Rating
The objective of the query system on the JAMS platform is to manage the perusal process as outlined
above. Unfortunately, the system can be abused by students who make themselves guilty of logging
queries that fall under point 2 in the previous section. Having to respond to inappropriate queries
affects the entire class as it causes delays in the processing of marks, it creates the impression that the
actions in point 2 above are acceptable and it consumes time that the lecturer should have invested in
presenting the module. For this reason, each student starts with a 100% query rating on the system,
but this query rating is adjusted every time a student logs a query. If a query falls within the valid query
items listed in point 1 above, the rating is increased up to a maximum of 100% (i.e. it is adjusted
upward for every positive query) and if it falls within the invalid query items listed in point 2 above, the
rating is decreased (i.e. it is adjusted downward for every negative query).
The lecturer sets the maximum number of queries that is available for each assessment (the exact
number of queries allowed is the lecturer's prerogative) and the number of queries available to each
student for the particular assessment is the student's query rating multiplied by the maximum number
of queries. If a student has a 100% query rating, he/she will be able to make use of the maximum
number of queries as he/she has proven to not submit invalid queries. If a student's query rating is
10% (or 0.1 as represented on the system), the student will only be allowed to make use of 10% of the
maximum number of available queries.
The query rating is an accumulated rating over all assessments that the student submitted and perused
on the JAMS system over the entire duration of his/her studies.
As the query rating is not determined by the lecturer, but by each individual student's query behaviour
over many modules and many lecturers, students cannot dispute a reduced number of queries
resulting from a low query rating. Students are encouraged to ensure that they log valid queries to
retain a high query rating. If a student's query rating drops below 50%, the student may be called in for
a discussion about the correct way to make effective use of the system.
8.8 Extra time

Students who have been awarded extra time for tests and examinations must ensure that their letter
from the Disability Unit has been uploaded to Minstro - Extra Time by Faculty administration at least
10 working days before the first assessment for which extra time is required. Extra time will reflect
automatically on Judicator AMS-based assessments.
For all other assessments, students must please inform/remind their lecturers of their extra time at
least 5 days before an assessment and take a copy of the letter from the disability unit to the
assessment.
9. ETHICS and CODE OF CONDUCT
9.1 Code of conduct and University rules and policies

As a Department we, staff and students alike, commit to the highest standards of ethics. At the
University of Pretoria, students are bound by the Disciplinary code for students as well as a number of
policies and related procedures, regulations, rules and instructions. Each student has to acquaint him-
or herself thoroughly with these documents. Below are links to a number of important documents.
Yearbooks
● General rules and regulations
● Faculty rules
● Degrees
Anti-discrimination policy
● Policy on the prevention of unfair discrimination, hate speech, harassment, violence based on
prohibited grounds, retaliation, and the promotion of substantive equality.
Escalation policy
● Policy to set out clearly the route that should be followed by staff, students, researchers,
service providers and contractors in escalating issues, concerns and complaints to Senior
Management and the Executive of the University of Pretoria.
Social media policy
● Policy to regulate the use of the University’s social media channels and to inform all users of
social media platforms of their roles, responsibilities and obligations.
Also refer to the following codes of conduct that are applicable to engineering professionals.
● ECSA code of conduct for registered persons

● IEEE code of conduct
9.2 Academic misconduct

According to the General Academic Regulations and Student Rules available on the UP website:
"Students may not act dishonestly in any way whatsoever. Dishonest conduct includes, but is not
limited to:
● dishonesty with regard to any assessment, whether it be a test or an examination, or with
regard to the completion and/or submission of any other academic task or assignment;
● plagiarism (using the work of others as though it is your own without acknowledging the
source);
● the submission of work by a student with a view to assessment when the work in question is
that of someone else either in full or in part, or where it is the result of collusion between the
student and another person or persons. The exception is group work as determined by the
lecturer concerned."
Academic misconduct is typically classified as either plagiarism or academic dishonesty and the two
classes of misconduct are handled differently. An elementary distinction between academic dishonesty
and plagiarism can be stated as follows. If a student is allowed to reference other sources and does so
but does not give credit to these sources, he/she commits plagiarism. Plagiarism typically occurs in
literature studies or written reviews of topics. If a student is supposed to do his/her own work and
should not reference another source but does so, the misconduct is typically classified as academic
dishonesty. For example, if a student copies the work of another student in an assignment or
examination, it is not plagiarism, but academic dishonesty. Likewise, copying a design from the internet
where a student was supposed to produce the design from first principles (i.e. by applying
foundational scientific principles to solve a problem through a meticulous design process, which is
different from adopting and adapting an existing design) is not plagiarism, but academic dishonesty.
9.2.1 Academic dishonesty

According to the University's regulations a lecturer is obliged to deal with all cases of suspected
academic dishonesty. The faculty rules allow minor incidents of academic dishonesty in semester
assessments, according to the discretion of the lecturer in consultation with the Head of the
Department or Function Head for Undergraduate Studies, to be handled internally in a department.
Major cases of suspected academic dishonesty (which include all misconduct in examinations) as well
as minor cases where a student does not want to submit to the internal departmental process must be
referred to legal services, i.e. such cases cannot be handled within a department.
Please refer to the Faculty Rules for details about the internal process to deal with academic
dishonesty.
If a case has to be referred to the University's Legal Office, the following procedure is applicable. When
a student is reported for suspected academic dishonesty, a report that presents and discusses the
evidence upon which the suspicion is based, is sent by the lecturer via the Function head for
undergraduate studies or the Head of the Department to the University's Legal Office. The Legal Office
will then investigate the case based on the submitted evidence in consultation with the student(s) and
the lecturer to determine whether academic dishonesty was committed. Until a case has been
concluded, a student's mark for the module in which the investigation is pending will not be released
(typically indicated as 989). This process takes time and students should enquire from the UP Staff in
the Legal Office about the timelines and progression of a specific case as the Department has no
control over this process once it has been handed over to the legal office.
Academic dishonesty can lead to expulsion from the University.
Students are encouraged to discuss work with one another. However, each student should hand in
his/her own work for assignments. Even if another student gives you permission to use his/her
assignments or research to hand in as you own, you are not allowed to do it. You are also not allowed
to let anybody copy your work with the intention of passing it off as his/her own work. Speak to your
lecturer if you are uncertain about what is required.
9.2.2 Plagiarism
Lecturers are obliged to report all suspected cases of plagiarism. Minor offenses can sometimes be
handled within a Department according to a penalty scale provided in the plagiarism prevention policy.
Serious cases or repeated offenses must be reported to legal services.
Plagiarism involves both appropriating someone else’s work and passing it off as one’s own work
afterwards. Thus, you commit plagiarism when you present someone else's written or creative work
(words, images, ideas, opinions, discoveries, artwork, music, recordings, computer-generated work,
etc.) as your own. Only hand in your own original work. Indicate precisely and accurately when you
have used information provided by someone else. Referencing must be done in accordance with a
recognised system. Indicate whether you have downloaded information from the Internet. For more
details, visit the library’s website:
http://www.library.up.ac.za/plagiarism/index.htm.
Kindly also refer to:
● Plagiarism prevention policy (Policy to explain the nature of plagiarism and the penalties
associated with transgressions in this regard.)
● the Disciplinary Code for Students (link provided above).
Plagiarism can lead to expulsion from the University.
9.2.3 Statement of originality

Refer to paragraph 6.1 Standard cover page for all assignments for the statement regarding the
originality of your work that must be appended to ALL written work submitted for evaluation in this
Department.
10. DEPARTMENTAL RESOURCES
A complete list of Departmental resources is available on the EECE Undergraduate ClickUP module.
10.1 Removal of assets from campus

Please note that no students are allowed to remove any UP assets from campus. No permission can be
obtained from anywhere to remove any UP assets (e.g., instruments or computers) from campus, and
if somebody does remove assets, a case of theft may be opened.
11. SUPPORT SERVICES
The University of Pretoria supports you in various ways free of charge. For academic support contact
the tutors allocated to the module and/or the Faculty Student Advisor.
Please download a QR code reader on your cell phone. To download a QR code reader, open your
mobile app store (App Store, Google Play or Windows Marketplace) and search for QR code readers.
11.1 Safety in the evening and emergencies

● For any safety or emergency related matters, eg if you need a security officer to accompany
you from your residence to campus, phone the Operational Management Centre (details at the
back of your student card).
● The 24-hour, multi-disciplinary UP Crisis Line offers professional and confidential support to
victims of crime in times of trauma. For assistance and immediate action, phone the UP Crisis
Line on: 0800 00 64 28.
● Hatfield residence students: From 18:00 till 06:00 security officers are available to escort you
(on foot) to and from your residence or campus anywhere east of the Hatfield Campus through
to the Hillcrest Campus.
11.2 E-learning support

● Report a problem you experience to the Student Help Desk on your campus.
● Visit the open labs in the Informatorium Building or IT labs on your campus to report problems
at the offices of the Student Help Desk.
● Approach the assistants at the help desks—campus specific (for example: adjacent to the
Student Computer Laboratories in IT Building, NW2, CBT or Aldoel Building IT labs, etc).
● Call 012 420 3837.
● Email [email protected]
11.3 Other support services:

• Think carefully before
dropping modules (after the closing
date for amendments or
FLY@UP: cancellation of modules).
www.up.ac.za/fly@up
• Make responsible choices
The Finish Line is with your time and work
email: [email protected]
Yours consistently.
• Aim for a good semester
mark. Don’t rely on the examination
to pass.
Student Provides counselling and
012 420 2333
Counselling Unit therapeutic support to students.
Student Health Promotes and assists students with 012 420 5233
Services health and wellness. 012 420 3423
Provides support for UP students

The Careers [email protected]
and graduates as they prepare for
Office 012 420 2315
their careers.
24-hour Operational Management 012 420-2310

Centre 012 420-2760
Department of
Security Services
24-hour Operational Manager cell 083 654 0476
Crisis Line 0800 006 428
Enquiries concerning studies, 012 420 2371/4001

Department of
accommodation, food, funds, social Roosmaryn Building,
Student Affairs
activities and personal problems. Hatfield campus
Centre for
Identifies and provides training of
Sexualities, AIDS 012 420 4391
student peer counsellors.
and Gender
Academic support for students with

learning disabilities:
● Assistive technological
services https://www.up.ac.za/di
● Facilitation of test and sability-unit
Disability Unit examination
012 420 2064
accommodations
● Test and exam concession email: [email protected]
applications
● Accessible study venues
and a computer lab
● Referrals for recommended
textbooks in electronic
format
http://www.up.ac.za/enquiry
Fees and funding 012 420 3111
www.up.ac.za/fees-and-funding
012 420 3051

IT Helpdesk For student IT related queries [email protected]
12. FACULTY PROCESSES
There are a number of processes that are managed by EBIT Faculty administration with inputs from the
Department. This section briefly outlines some of these processes7.
12.1 Admissions
All admissions are managed by EBIT Faculty Administration, i.e. the Department is not involved in this
process.
12.2 Registrations
All registrations are managed by EBIT Faculty Administration. However, special permission to register
for modules outside the normal progression rules and regulations must be granted by the Department
before EBIT administration will perform such registrations. The process to apply for special permission
to register for a module outside normal progression rules is the following.
1. An online form is made available by the Department in the weeks before the final date for
registration. A notice with the link to this form will be sent out via the previous year's EECE
undergraduate ClickUP module to all registered students in the Department as the present
year EECE Undergraduate ClickUP is only activated once the registration process has been
concluded for the year.
2. Students who wish to apply for special permission to register for a module must complete this
form at the latest one week before registrations close.
3. Applications are then considered by the Function Head for Undergraduate Studies.
4. The outcome of each application is subsequently communicated to the student and to EBIT
Faculty administration via the Departmental Administrator for Undergraduate Studies.
5. Students are not allowed to make arrangements for special permissions directly with Faculty
administration.
6. All registrations for modules that have not been approved by the Department will be cancelled
when registrations are audited during the course of the semester, irrespective of the exact
time during the semester when the audit is performed.
7. Please take particular note of the requirement to apply for special permission should a student
wish to enrol for any third-year module concurrently with Project EPR400 or Project EPR402.
12.3 Exclusions and appeals

If a student does not comply with the progression rules of the University and/or the Faculty and/or the
Department, such a student may be dismissed (first-years) or excluded (second to fourth years) from
the Faculty. This means that the student cannot continue with his/her studies in the Faculty.
● First-time first-year students are typically dismissed from the Faculty if they fail to pass 70% of
their first-year credits.
7
Note that in the case of a discrepancy between the information provided here and the General Rules and Regulations of the
University of Pretoria, the EBIT Faculty Rules and the Degree program rules, the General Rules and Regulations of the
University of Pretoria, the EBIT Faculty Rules and the Degree program rules will take preference.
● Second to fourth-year students are typically excluded from the Faculty when they fail a module
twice.
● Please refer to the General regulations of the University of Pretoria, the EBIT Faculty rules and
the Degree-specific rules for details about progression rules (www.up.ac.za/yearbooks/home).
If a student is dismissed/excluded from the Faculty, he or she normally has the option to appeal their
dismissal or exclusion.
● The first appeal for re-admission must be made to the Faculty. The due date for appeals is
usually very early in the year, i.e. long before registrations close, and students are urged to
contact Faculty administration as soon as they are informed about their dismissal or exclusion
to ascertain the due date for appeals.
● The appeals to the Faculty must be submitted to EBIT Faculty Administration and not to the
Department.
● Should a student's appeal for readmission to the Faculty be denied, such a student usually has
the option to appeal to the Senate of the University for readmission. This should be stated in
the letter from EBIT Faculty administration that communicates the outcome of the appeal and
should be available on the student's portal.
● Should a student wish to appeal to the Senate, he/she must inform the Head of Faculty
administration of this decision and submit the necessary documentation to Faculty
administration by the due date for Senate appeals. It is the student's responsibility to ascertain
himself or herself of the timelines for appeals.
● Should a student's appeal for readmission be rejected by the Senate, the outcome is final and
there is no further appeal that can be made.
● Note that the chances of readmission decrease significantly with an increase in the number of
dismissals or exclusions.
12.4 Credit applications

Students who transfer from other institutions that subscribe to the Washington Accord, may apply for
credits for first and second-year UP modules in the Department of EECE. Students need to apply for
credits via the form available at bit.ly/EECE_Credits. The process involves the following.
1. The student registers for a degree in our Department.

2. Once registered, the form (bit.ly/EECE_Credits) as well as the accompanying credit application
template (bit.ly/EECECreditTemplate) in the case of an application for credits for multiple
modules are completed.
3. The Deputy-Function Head for Undergraduate Studies sends out the information provided for
every module for which a credit application was submitted to the relevant module lecturers.
4. The module lecturers assess the content that was covered at the other institution against the
content and learning objectives of the UP module.
5. The outcome of the assessment is communicated to the Deputy-Function Head for
Undergraduate Studies, who then communicates the outcome of the application to the
student and EBIT Faculty administration.
6. No disputes will be entertained regarding the outcome of a credit application.
12.5 Sick and extraordinary/special examinations

Please refer to the subsection about absence from examinations in paragraph 8.5 of this guide. The
Department is not involved in the award of sick and/or extraordinary/special examinations.
12.6 Special examinations

Final-year students who have passed their final year Project (EPR400 or EPR402) and need one or two
semester modules to complete their degrees, may apply at the end of the year in which they are
enrolled for Project for a special examination in the module(s) that they had examination entry for but
did not pass.
● Applications for special examinations have to be submitted to EBIT Faculty Administration once
the results for all the modules that a final year student was enrolled for during the year are
available. Note that the Department does not award special examinations.
● A student who has a supplementary examination for Project may apply for special
examination(s), but permission to write special examination(s) will be cancelled if the
supplementary examination for Project is failed.
● According to the Faculty rules, there are no special examinations for Project EPR400/402.
● Special examinations will be written in the days directly after the results of the Project
supplementary examinations have been published. However, in the case where all students
who need to write the special examination in a module have already passed Project, the
special examination may be written earlier as determined by the Department.
12.7 Remarking of examination scripts

Please refer to point 4 in 8.7 Perusals, queries and remarking of scripts. Applications to have an
examination script remarked must be submitted to EBIT Faculty administration. Refer to the University
of Pretoria's General Rules and regulations and the EBIT Faculty rules for information about the costs
and due dates for such applications.
SECTION II: STUDY COMPONENT
13. GENERAL DEGREE PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

The general objective of the teaching and learning strategy implemented by the Department is to
develop students' skills to produce graduates that comply with the requirements established for
professional engineers through the regulatory body ECSA. The variety and scope of modules that are
presented aim to develop a range of engineering skills covering basic sciences such as physics and
mathematics to more advanced specialist concepts such as control systems, telecommunications,
signal processing and artificial intelligence. The content of the degree programs also aims to equip
students to function in a multidisciplinary environment where they need to interface with other
engineering and science disciplines.
14. ECSA
The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) is a statutory body established in terms of the
Engineering Profession Act (EPA), 46 of 2000 whose role is to regulate the engineering profession. It
does this through accreditation of engineering programmes, registration of engineering professionals
and regulation of the practice of registered persons.
All three degree programs offered by the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer
Engineering are accredited by ECSA. In ECSA's Policy on Accreditation of Engineering Programmes
E-01-POL REVISION 0: 20 August 2020 the purpose of the accreditation system is stated as follows.
"The accreditation system assures the public, students, employers, funders and other stakeholders that:
a) The programme fulfils its key purpose, namely to provide the graduate with the educational
foundation for engineering in a stated role at the professional level; and
b) The teaching, learning and assessment processes is effective."
For more information on ECSA, please visit the website at www.ecsa.co.za.

For information on accreditation of academic programs, refer to section 5 at
https://www.ecsa.co.za/EcsaDocuments/sitepages/ecsa%20documents.aspx.
14.1 Knowledge Areas

ECSA prescribes a credit allocation according to knowledge areas that needs to adhere to the values
given in Table 1 of the document E-02-PE Qualification Standard for Bachelor of Science in Engineering
(BSc(Eng)) Bachelors of Engineering.pdf, REVISION No. 6: 01 September 2020, available from the ECSA
website. The table is given below.
The description of the ECSA graduate attributes below is an excerpt from the document Policy on
Accreditation of Engineering Programmes E-01-POL REVISION 0: 20 August 2020, available from the
ECSA website.
14.1.1 Natural sciences (formerly basic sciences)

Natural sciences include physics (including mechanics), chemistry, earth sciences and the biological
sciences which focus on understanding the physical world, as applicable in each engineering
disciplinary context.
14.1.2 Complementary studies

Complementary studies cover those disciplines outside of engineering sciences, natural sciences and
mathematics which are relevant to the practice of engineering including but not limited to engineering
economics, management, the impact of technology on society, effective communication, and the
humanities, social sciences or other areas that support an understanding of the world in which
engineering is practised.
14.1.3 Engineering design and synthesis

Engineering design and synthesis are the systematic processes of conceiving and developing materials,
components, systems and processes to serve useful purposes. Design may be procedural, creative or
open-ended and requires application of engineering sciences, working under constraints, and taking
into account economic, health and safety, social and environmental factors, codes of practice and
applicable laws.
14.1.4 Engineering sciences

Engineering sciences have roots in the mathematical and physical sciences, and where applicable, in
other natural sciences but extend knowledge and develop models and methods in order to lead to
engineering applications and solve engineering problems.
14.1.5 Mathematical sciences

Mathematical sciences is an umbrella term embracing the techniques of mathematics, numerical
analysis, statistics and aspects of computer science cast in an appropriate mathematical formalism.
The coverage of knowledge areas among the modules in each degree program are given in Section
14.4. Note that the coverage allocation is based on the general approach in each module, i.e. it does
not mean that none of the other knowledge areas are touched upon in a module where they are not
indicated as the primary knowledge area(s).
14.2 ECSA Graduate Attributes (GAs)
The description of the ECSA graduate attributes below is an excerpt from the document E-02-PE
Qualification Standard for Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSc(Eng)) Bachelors of Engineering.pdf,
REVISION No. 6: 01 September 2020, available from the ECSA website.
Each of the modules in the undergraduate programs in the Department addresses one or more of
these graduate attributes with the purpose of complying with the quality of engineering education
that is required to practice as a professional engineer.
The graduate attribute descriptions are copied below for quick reference. Kindly consult document
E-02-PE above for a detailed description of ECSA Outcome levels.
Graduate Attribute 1: Problem solving

Identify, formulate, analyse and solve complex engineering problems creatively and innovatively.
Graduate Attribute 2: Application of scientific and engineering

knowledge
Apply knowledge of mathematics, natural sciences, engineering fundamentals and an
engineering speciality to solve complex engineering problems.
Graduate Attribute 3: Engineering Design

Perform creative, procedural and non-procedural design and synthesis of components, systems,
engineering works, products or processes.
Graduate Attribute 4: Investigations, experiments and data analysis

Demonstrate competence to design and conduct investigations and experiments.
Graduate Attribute 5: Engineering methods, skills and tools, including

information technology
Demonstrate competence to use appropriate engineering methods, skills and tools, including
those based on information technology.
Graduate Attribute 6: Professional and technical communication

Demonstrate competence to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with
engineering audiences and the community at large.
Graduate Attribute 7: Sustainability and impact of engineering activity

Demonstrate critical awareness of the sustainability and impact of engineering activity on the
social, industrial and physical environment.
Graduate Attribute 8: Individual, team and multidisciplinary working

Demonstrate competence to work effectively as an individual, in teams and in multidisciplinary
environments.
Graduate Attribute 9: Independent Learning Ability

Demonstrate competence to engage in independent learning through well-developed learning skills.
Graduate Attribute 10: Engineering Professionalism
Demonstrate critical awareness of the need to act professionally and ethically and to exercise
judgment and take responsibility within own limits of competence.
Graduate Attribute 11: Engineering management

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of engineering management principles and economic
decision-making.
The articulation of the attributes within the three degree programs presented by the Department EECE
are given in Section 14.4. Three levels of articulation are indicated: ✓ indicates introductory level,
✓✓ indicates intermediate level and ✓✓✓ indicates exit level. For modules where the exit level is
applicable, an additional assessment subminimum for each graduate attribute is by default introduced.
The details of this subminimum/these subminima are given in the module content study guide where
applicable.
14.3 ECSA GA assessment approach in the Department of

EECE
ECSA requires a structured and auditable approach to evaluation of GAs. GAs can generally be divided
into sub-GAs that address different aspects of the main attribute. The assessment strategy aims to
prove that a student complies with the attributes by explicitly assessing each sub-GA. In isolated cases,
compliance with sub-GAs is proven through an inseparable dependence among the different sub-GAs.
The table below gives a breakdown of the modules in which each GA is assessed, the sub-GAs that are
assessed as well as the assessment strategy.
Graduate Module(s) where Assessment

attribute assessed
GA 1 EBT 410 Assessment components
Problem solving EAS 410 1. Identification of problem scope and criteria for acceptable
solution.
2. Sufficient problem formulation and identification of necessary
mathematical, natural science and engineering knowledge,
skills and methods.
3. Problem analysis and possible solution evaluation.
4. Appropriate problem solution formulation and derivation.
Default assessment strategy

Questions are set to cover all four assessment components and
grading focuses on the formulation, presentation and derivation
of the solution. This strategy aligns comprehensive assessment of
GA 1 with the assessment objectives of the module, i.e. the final
mark for the module directly maps to the final mark for GA 1.
GA 2 EAD 410 Assessment components
Application of ESP 411 1. Appropriate selection and correct application of
scientific and mathematical, natural science and engineering theory and
engineering fundamentals for formal analysis and modelling of
knowledge engineering components, systems or processes.
2. Application of mathematical, natural science and engineering
theory and fundamentals to solve complex engineering
problems.
3. Use of specialist engineering knowledge to identify and solve
open-ended engineering problems.

Questions are set to cover all three assessment components and
grading focuses on the solution of complex and/or open-ended
engineering problems. This strategy aligns comprehensive
assessment of GA 2 with the assessment objectives of the
module, i.e. the final mark for the module directly maps to the
final mark for GA 2.
GA 3 EPR 400 Assessment components
Engineering EPR 402 1. Identification and formulation of design specification and
design constraints.
2. Identification and evaluation of requisite knowledge,
concepts, resources, methods and tools pertinent to the
design.
3. Design including analysis, modelling, simulation and
optimisation.
4. Implementation (quality of engineering work).
5. Evaluation through testing and experimentation.

Each sub-GA is assessed individually and a student needs to pass
every sub-GA to pass GA 3. A rubric is used to facilitate
assessment of the sub-GAs.
GA 4 ENR 420 Assessment components

Investigations, EES 424 1. Effective planning and execution of investigations and
experiments and ERP 420 experiments.
data analysis 2. Critical evaluation of pertinent literature.
3. Application of correct research methodology and analysis.
4. Interpretations, analyses and conclusions emanating from
results and data.
5. Documentation of investigations, experiments, data, results
and conclusions in a technical report.

GA 5 Engineering ENR 420 Assessment components
methods, skills EES 424 1. Application of appropriate engineering methods.
and tools, ERP 420 2. Using appropriate engineering skills and tools.
including 3. Assessment of attribute from engineering methods, skills and
information tools.
technology
GA 6 Professional EPR 400 Assessment components

and technical EPR 402 1. Demonstration of the ability and competence to communicate
communication technically correct information in the form of a technical
report.
2. Demonstration of the ability and competence to communicate
effectively (with correct grammar, spelling and formatting),
concisely, clearly and logically in writing.
3. Demonstration of the ability and competence to communicate
effectively orally by presenting and defending technical work
before a wider audience.

GA 7 MIA 320 Assessment components

Sustainability and 1. Demonstration of critical awareness of impact of engineering
impact of on society and environment.
engineering 2. Demonstration of critical awareness of impact of engineering
activity on a personal, social, economic and cultural level.
3. Comprehension of health, safety, environmental protection,
risk assessment and management and sustainability related to
engineering activity.

To be determined by the service department.
GA 8 MIA 320 Assessment components

Individual, team 1. Demonstration of the ability and competence to make an
and individual contribution regarding the completion of an
multidisciplinary assigned task.
working 2. Demonstration of the ability and competence to work in an
interdisciplinary environment with effective team
organisation, coordination, collaboration and communication
towards the attainment of a common goal.

GA 9 EPR 400 Assessment components

Independent EPR 402 1. Identification and independent application of pertinent
learning ability resources related to a new knowledge area (new to student).

GA 9 is assessed as a single attribute based on a student's
demonstrated ability to gain new knowledge on a topic outside a
formal curriculum.
GA 10 BSS 310 Assessment components
Engineering 1. Assessment of the understanding of the system of
professionalism professional development, decision making and continued
competence.
2. Assessment of the understanding of reasoning and judgement
on ethical aspects.
3. Assessment on displaying judgement in problem solving and
design.
4. Assessment on accepting responsibility of one's own actions
and being aware of limits of one's own competencies.

GA 11 IPI 410 Assessment components

Engineering 1. Demonstration of competence in systems engineering and
management systems life cycle.
2. Demonstration of competence in project management
methodologies.
3. Demonstration of competence in engineering economics.

14.4 Articulation of modules with knowledge areas and

graduate attributes.
A table showing a summary of modules offered in the Department of EECE and the attributes that are
assessed in each module is available HERE.
15. COGNITIVE LEVEL OF ASSESSMENT
The criteria of assessment are a list of specific skills to be mastered by the student in order to achieve
the learning outcomes of the syllabus theme. During assessment (tests and the examination), students
will be evaluated in terms of these criteria.
The statements used to define the criteria of assessment are classified in terms of a series of lower- to
higher-order thinking skills (cognitive domains), in accordance with Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives (Bloom BS and Krathwohl DR, Taxonomy of educational objectives. Handbook 1. Cognitive
domain, Addison-Wesley, 1984). A diagram that shows the hierarchical progression of these domains is
shown in Figure 15.1.
Figure 15.1. Cognitive levels of complexity
The characterization of the cognitive domains is given in the table below.

Cognitive Domain Definition Typical Action Verbs
1. Knowledge Remembering previously learned Arrange, define, describe, identify, label,

information. list, match, name, outline
2. Comprehension Understanding the meaning of Classify, discuss, estimate, explain, give

information. example(s), identify, predict, report,
review, select, summarise, interpret, "in
your own words"
3. Application Using the information Apply, calculate, demonstrate, illustrate,

appropriately in different interpret, modify, predict, prepare,
situations produce, solve, use, manipulate, put into
practice
4. Analysis Breaking down the information Analyse, appraise, calculate, compare,
into the component parts and criticise, derive, differentiate, choose,
seeing the relationships. distinguish, examine, subdivide, organise,
deduce
5. Synthesis Putting the component parts Assemble, compose, construct, create,

together to form new products design, determine, develop, devise,
and ideas. formulate, propose, synthesize, plan,
discuss, support
6. Evaluation Making judgments of an idea, Appraise, assess, compare, conclude,

theory, opinion, etc. based on defend, determine, evaluate, judge,
criteria. justify, optimise, predict, criticise
In any module there are two levels of complexity that are being addressed: the cognitive level of
complexity and a general level of difficulty that relates to the complexity of performing, for example,
the required mathematics, the number of subsequent steps that are involved or the level of integration
of different concepts in the process of solving a problem. Figure 15.2 shows a graphical representation
of this proficiency domain idea.
Up to the second year the content of your modules as well as the way in which they are/were
presented mainly require that you work on levels 1 and 2 (knowledge and comprehension) in the
cognitive domain and perhaps start touching on level 3 (application). This is roughly indicated by the
green domain in figure 2. If your preparation for these junior years results in a distinction mark, it
shows that you have mastered the lower cognitive levels to address problems of moderate to difficult
nature and on an application level, problems of trivial to easy nature. A mark between 50 and 75%
suggests that you demonstrate proficiency in the same cognitive domains, but at a level of easy to
moderate scope. A mark below 50% undeniably indicate that although you might be able to address
trivial to easy problems in the lower three cognitive domains, you still need to develop the skills that
are necessary to address problems at a more difficult level.
Figure 15.2. Proficiency domain with focus areas of different study years indicated.
Engineering problems in industry cover the entire range of cognitive complexity and general difficulty
as indicated by the shaded area in Figure 15.2. The objective in our undergraduate modules is thus to
broaden the proficiency domain from that indicated for the junior years to a domain that would allow
a student to effectively function in industry or academia. The final year project typically covers the
proficiency range shown in blue in Figure 15.2. The preceding modules must deliver students to the
final year project EPR400 and ultimately to industry that have the skills required to function as
professional engineers.
Figure 15.3. Typical proficiency domains in which engineers operate in (a) industry and (b) research.
So how far do I really need to develop my skills? Figure 15.3 roughly indicates the typical domains
where engineers in industry (Figure 15.3a) and engineers in academia (Figure 15.3b) need to function.
As a student you must thus aim to develop your skills to be able to function over the entire proficiency
domain with a focus towards the higher cognitive levels of complexity. Research typically tends to be
at the more difficult side of the domain. Industrial applications tend to cover the entire difficulty range.
For any engineering application (industrial or research) knowledge and comprehension and even to an
extent application skills are assumed to be in place to support the approach to the problem from an
analysis-synthesis-evaluation viewpoint.
This concludes the general study guide. Kindly refer to the module study guides for specific content
related to each module.
Revision history
Archive of previous versions of the guide.
Date Description Editor
9 Sept 2020 Added paragraph 8.4 Prof T Hanekom
12 Oct 2020 * Added information about sick tests on EECE Undergraduate ClickUP to the Prof T Hanekom
existing information in this document.
* Moved sick tests information from paragraph 10 (General) to paragraph 8
(Assessments)
* Replaced Mrs Pritchard's information with Mrs Ferreira's in paragraph 2
21 Oct 2020 * Added section on Ethics and Code of conduct. Prof T Hanekom
* Moved content about plagiarism and academic dishonesty to paragraph 9.
* Consolidated Grievance procedures under paragraph 3.
* Removed General paragraph.
* Added paragraph about removal of assets from campus.
* Added paragraph about yearbooks in introductory paragraph.
* Added paragraph about academic dishonesty.
* Added paragraph about laboratory rules and access
27 Oct 2020 * Layout of EECE Undergraduate ClickUP was changed; paths to items referred to Prof T Hanekom
in this document were changed accordingly.
9 Dec 2020 * Added paragraph 8.6 and 8.7 Prof T Hanekom
Jan 2021 * Added paragraph 3.3 Class representative system Prof T Hanekom
Feb 2021 * Added links to aegrotat/ extraordinary assessment forms and feedback for 2021 Prof T Hanekom
Mar 2021 * Added link to extra time letter submission (par 8.8) Prof T Hanekom
* Added link to step sheet for sick or extraordinary examination applications.
* Added On-line vs on-campus assessment under par 8.1
* Changed numbering of section II
April 2021 * Expanded content on grievances procedures (par 3.4) Prof T Hanekom
* Updated the content about class representatives (par 3.3)
* Added content about social media and the use of Telegram in the Department
(par 3.5)
* Added paragraph 12
* Corrected numbering of headings
* Removed duplicate originality statement.
May 2021 Added paragraph 7.3 Components for practical assignments Prof T Hanekom
Added paragraph 1.2 Statement on Anti-Discrimination
July 2021 Amended paragraph 8.4 Online assessment submission protocol for clarity. Prof T Hanekom
Amended paragraph 9.2 Academic misconduct to add a brief description of the
legal process after a student was reported for academic dishonesty.
August 2021 Added paragraph about compulsory submission of non-session-based assessments Prof T Hanekom
on the due date.
March 2022 Revised paragraph on Academic Dishonesty to include the new Faculty policy that Prof T Hanekom
allows an internal process to deal with minor academic dishonesty.
Added paragraph about missing assessments due to sport and other extramural
activities.
Included the term special alongside extraordinary for additional tests and exams.
Added reference to Regulation A22 about the conditions under which an affidavit
is acceptable.
Updated computer-based submission rules to clarify difference between online
and on-campus assessments.
May 2022 Added policy about no exemptions from practical work in second to final-year Prof T Hanekom
modules. EBN111/122 has purely mechanistic practicals that aim to introduce
students to the laboratory instruments. As such, and because of the large numbers
of students in this module, exemptions are allowed in these modules only.
August 2022 Added Deputy function heads and Ms Ndala's details Prof T Hanekom
Sept. 2022 Updated Mrs. Ferreira’s office number in sec. 2 Dr. W. Badenhorst
Added a note about the structure of practical time. Prof T Hanekom
March 2023 Google form-based absence note system replaced by Minstro and study guide Prof T Hanekom
updated (Section 8.5.5)
May 2023 Updated non-session-based assessment section to state that students must inform Prof T Hanekom
their lecturers by the due date if they need an extension due to sickness. (Section
8.5.5)
Updated extra time section (Section 8.8)

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General Undergraduate Study Guide

Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering

Function head for undergraduate studies: Prof T Hanekom

Short link to this document:

Request access to EECE Undergraduate student ClickUP:

SECTION I: ORGANISATIONAL COMPONENT

2. FUNCTION HEAD for UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES

3. POLICY ON COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT

4. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON LECTURES AND CLASS ATTENDANCE

5. DEPARTMENTAL APPROACH TO AND POLICY ON HYBRID TEACHING AND LEARNING

6. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON ASSIGNMENTS

7. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON LABORATORY WORK

8. DEPARTMENTAL POLICY ON ASSESSMENT

9. ETHICS and CODE OF CONDUCT

10. DEPARTMENTAL RESOURCES

11. SUPPORT SERVICES

12. FACULTY PROCESSES

SECTION II: STUDY COMPONENT

15. COGNITIVE LEVEL OF ASSESSMENT

1. GENERAL PREMISE AND EDUCATIONAL APPROACH

1.1 Statement of intent for undergraduate education

1.2 Statement on Anti-Discrimination

Prof Tania Hanekom

The deputy function heads for undergraduate studies are:

Queries and appointments: bit.ly/EECE_Undergrad_Queries

Administrative support is provided by...

3.1 Consulting hours

3.2 Communication with lecturers and other members of

3.3 Class representative system

3.3.1 Class representative responsibilities

3.3.2 Class/student body responsibilities

3.4 Grievance procedures

1. Consult the lecturer concerned about your grievances/concerns.

A graphical representation of this information is available under Communication >

3.4.2 Surveys of student satisfaction

3.5 Social media

before the start of an examination or assessment session.

3.5.2 External sites and platforms

Being a technology-driven entity, the Department of EECE realised the potential of

Please note the following.

6.1 Standard cover page for all assignments

6.1.1 Group assignments

Name and Surname Student number Signature % contribution

Assume a mark of 8/10 for the assignment.

● S.T.U. Dent gets 8/10

6.1.2 Individual assignments

Name and Surname Student number Signature

7.1 Rules regarding laboratory work

Please note the following.

7.2 Laboratory rules and access

7.3 Components for practical assignments

The EECE Undergraduate Students ClickUP module provide details

● about component suppliers, and

8.1 Tests and examinations

Format Typical Notes

1 Sit-down invigilated No restrictions on Open or closed-book

2 Sit-down invigilated No restrictions on Open or closed-book

3 Sit-down invigilated No restrictions to Open or closed-book

5 Online Restricted Open-book