SAQA

All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.

SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY

REGISTERED QUALIFICATION THAT HAS PASSED THE END DATE:

Bachelor of Commerce: Informatics

SAQA QUAL ID	QUALIFICATION TITLE
15167	Bachelor of Commerce: Informatics
ORIGINATOR
University of Cape Town
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY			NQF SUB-FRAMEWORK
CHE - Council on Higher Education			HEQSF - Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework
QUALIFICATION TYPE	FIELD		SUBFIELD
National First Degree	Field 03 - Business, Commerce and Management Studies		Finance, Economics and Accounting
ABET BAND	MINIMUM CREDITS	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	QUAL CLASS
Undefined	432	Level 6	Level N/A: Pre-2009 was L6	Regular-Provider-ELOAC
REGISTRATION STATUS		SAQA DECISION NUMBER	REGISTRATION START DATE	REGISTRATION END DATE
Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"		SAQA 06120/18	2018-07-01	2018-12-31
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT		LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2019-12-31		2024-12-31

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.

This qualification does not replace any other qualification and is not replaced by any other qualification.

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

The purpose of the B Com (Infomatics) programme is to provide South Africa with graduates with strong quantitative skills, together with knowledge of business principles, finance, economics and information systems, so that they can apply quantitative modelling methods in aid of complex management problems. Such graduates will be able to develop decision support systems for management in both private and public sectors.

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

The primary entry requirements are (a) demonstrated competence in mathematical skills at the level of higher grade senior certificate mathematics; (b) good communication skills, as assessed by performance in a first language at senior certificate level.

Senior certificate with matriculation exemption or equivalent university admission qualification.

Additional requirements

Mathematics HG (E) Or SG (C) and pass in English

RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

The University is prepared to test candidates wishing to enter through non-traditional means, to establish whether, in the opinion of Senate, the person is prepared for degree studies in which case an application will be made for conditional exemption.

RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING?

EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES

(a) Critical cross-field outcomes (generic to all teaching and learning)

The BCom graduate is competent to:

(i) Understand and manipulate quantitative information provided in tables, graphs and sets of equations;
(ii) Critically understand written texts of descriptive, prescriptive and argumentative characters;
(iii) Produce written texts of descriptive, prescriptive and argumentative characters to accepted international standards in his or her specific field of training (as these may exist at the time of his or her graduation);
(iv) Find information of professional relevance efficiently and independently and
(v) Use and organise such information to conduct systematic research aimed at providing answers to questions whose resolutions are not antecedently known, or to verifying answers that are assumed on the basis of 'accepted wisdom';
(vi) Understand and critically appreciate the contribution of major artistic and cultural activities and performances to community and national life;
(vii) Use information-technology standard in professional offices (at the time of his or her graduation) efficiently and independently;
(viii) Use the internet to find and access information;
(ix) Understand when and how to acknowledge the limitations of his or her own expertise and elicit the more appropriate expertise of others;
(x) Appreciate the importance of life-long learning and the importance of self-initiative in pursuing it;
(xi) Understand and internalise as a personal value the importance of conducting professional activity within the scope of national, provincial, municipal and international law.

(b) General outcomes (contextually demonstrated general knowledge, skills and values of the programme)

The BCom graduate is competent to

(i) Produce solutions to both familiar and novel business problems as these arise in the course of professional activity;
(ii) Communicate his or her understanding of business problems and solutions to others in ways that are clear but not arrogant or presumptive;
(iii) Critically receive and understand the descriptions and suggestions of business colleagues and clients;
(iv) Understand the difference between personal and social (often corporate, sometimes public) goals, so as to
(v) Understand the importance of commitment to the latter even when they diverge with his or her personal interests;
(vi) Appreciate the contexts in which specific technical competencies identified below can best be integrated with the general competencies just identified.

(c) Specific Outcomes, including professional outcomes, contextually demonstrated

The BCom (Infomatics) graduate will be competent to:
(i) Read critically, understand and integrate statistical information and quantitative models relating to operation and performance of business and pubic sector organisations;
(ii) Understand the role of statistics and quantitative models in designing information systems which integrate financial, economic and operational measures of performance in support of management of the organisation;
(iii) Participate in interdisciplinary teams in developing systems thinking approaches to problem solving in the organisation;
(iv) Identify trends and patterns in statistical and other data, and to draw valid conclusions from such data, using mathematical and computer-based methods of statistical inference, including multiple regression, time series, analysis of variance and decision theory models;
(v) Construct management science models to analyse planning and decision problems in the organisation, for purposes of identifying courses of action which best meet the goal and objectives of the organisation; particular skills in this regard include mathematical programming, simulation, queuing models and the treatment of multiple conflicting objectives in the organisation;
(vi) Incorporate the statistical and management science models into information and decision support systems for use by management of the organisation;
(vii) Produce concise and functional reports to management of the organisation, containing recommendations for action based on the statistical and management science models;
(viii) Gain admission (probably after completion of the BCom (Hons) degree) to graduate programmes in business statistics, operations research, and management science or information systems at leading international universities.

ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

For Critical cross-field, General and Specific Outcomes:

Students will be assessed on the attainment of these outcomes in various ways.

Criteria for essays will include gathering of adequate, up-to-date, credible and relevant material, citation and referencing per the Harvard method, use of appropriate structure including introduction, conclusion and flow, sufficient depth and focus, clarity of style, correctness of spelling and grammar, use of arguments, presentation and layout and readability.

Their knowledge of technical, managerial and organisational material will be tested through case-based assignments, small group tutorials and formal examinations.

In terms of practical skills and group work, they will be assessed on their performance in the group systems development project. They will be assessed on their ability to carry out most of the tasks expected of an industry project team, using criteria such as correctness of problem analysis and definition; effectiveness and imagination of system design; success of project estimation, planning and management; depth, clarity, presentation and usefulness of documentation; robustness, functionality, innovation and ease of use of a working computer system; and ability to present the system and answer related questions in a meeting.

INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT

A BCom (Infomatics) graduate will be assessed specifically on foundational competencies in critical quantitative and system thinking, and language and computer literacy skills in all prescribed and optional courses from the first year of the programme. Such competence will be assessed, across all programme courses, through a mix of formal written examinations, individual and group projects, and individual and group presentations. In all such assignments, a learner's performance will be assessed on the basis of his or her:

(i) demonstration of ability to organise ideas and facts in a logical, coherent way;
(ii) demonstration of ability to anticipate the responses and objections of an imagined reader; and
(iii) demonstrated ability to convey technical mathematical and statistical arguments clearly to non-experts.

A BCom (Infomatics) student will be assessed specifically on practical competencies in ability to formulate real world decision and inferential problems coherently in mathematical and statistical terms from the second year of the programme. Furthermore, the ability to solve the related problems on computers will also be assessed. Such competence will be assessed, across all programme courses, through assigned individual projects and assignments and regular class tests, through the second and third years of the programme. The learner's performance will be assessed on the basis of his or her demonstrated ability to integrate these competencies to the level expected of a junior statistical or management consultant, delivering a professional report to a meeting of colleagues or to management.

The core integrative courses in the programme are STA220F (Business Statistics), STA306F (Management Science) and STA308S (Business Infomatics). In all of these courses, the methods of statistical and mathematical modelling are applied to the problems of management, finance and economics studied in other courses, for purposes of problem solving in business and management. In most cases this also requires implementation in computer information systems. Technical skills are assessed formatively through class tests and assignments, and summatively by the final written examinations. In each of the three courses, skills in formulating problems, integrating solution methods and interpreting solutions are assessed both formatively and summatively by projects, in which specific practical problems are formulated in mathematical or statistical terms, relevant data collated, solutions found by computer methods, and conclusions expressed in written and tabular form. Some projects are carried out individually, and others as group work so that the ability to work in teams can be assessed.

The integrative skills are more completely rounded off in the final course STA308S. The particular characteristics of this course are that it is taken largely only by those in the informatics programme (so that small groups are able to meet and to discuss formulations in depth), and focuses on data mining concepts and on decision modelling which are fundamental methods of integrating all earlier material. The assessment again includes substantial projects as well as the final examination.

ARTICULATION OPTIONS

This qualification serves as an entry point to the related qualification(s):
BCom (Hons)
MBA

Other articulation possibilities, either generic or specific

BBusSc
BSc
PGDM
Or other B-degree or Diploma courses at other Universities.

MODERATION OPTIONS

The University of Cape Town has a system of external peer review and evaluation of each course. One of the aspects of the system is an evaluation of the standards and assessment practices of the department.

CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS

The academic staff of the University of Cape Town will be used in a manner, which is consistent with the quality assurance system of the University.

REREGISTRATION HISTORY

As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this qualification was Reregistered in 2006; 2009; 2012; 2015.

NOTES

N/A

LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION:

NONE

PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS QUALIFICATION:

This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.

1.	University of Cape Town