Assignment Policies
The laboratory portion of ECE 486 accounts for 30% of the final course grade. Except for Lab 0, the grade for each lab consists of two components: a prelab and a lab report. Students are expected to attend their registered lab section and complete all required laboratory activities during the scheduled lab period. The grading rubrics for each prelab and lab report are provided in the corresponding templates. Labs are weighted differently according to their length and difficulty. The final project is the most heavily weighted laboratory assignment and accounts for 25% of the laboratory grade.
Prelabs
All students must hand in their own, separate, individually written, and original prelab. Students are expected to conduct themselves according to the University’s policies on academic integrity. Violation of these rules will be handled according to University policy.
The prelab assignment is due at 5:00 PM Monday on Gradescope (your lab TA will add you to lab gradescope). Each student must individually complete and turn in their own prelab.
NO LATE PRELABS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
The prelabs usually involve design work that must be completed before the lab can be started. These may be neatly handwritten or typed (your choice), like you would do for your homework. After you turn them in, the TA will grade them before the beginning of your lab session so you may use these results in the lab.
TA Checks
To receive credit for completing a lab, students must follow the laboratory instructions and stop whenever a TA Check is indicated. A TA will review the students’ progress and authorize them to continue after confirming that the work has been completed correctly. During a TA Check, students may be asked to show relevant plots, experimental data, wiring, code, or block diagrams and to answer questions about their work.
Lab Reports
Each student must submit a separate, individually written, and original lab report. Students are expected to comply with the University’s policies on academic integrity. Violations will be addressed in accordance with University policy.
Lab reports are due by 11:59 PM on Friday of the week following the scheduled lab session. For example, if a student completes the lab on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, the report is due by 11:59 PM on Friday, August 21, 2026.
A report submitted after the Friday deadline is considered late. Reports submitted by 11:59 PM on Saturday will receive a 10% deduction from the report grade. Reports submitted after that time but by 11:59 PM on Sunday will receive a 20% deduction. Reports submitted after the Sunday deadline will not be accepted.
Gradescope permits submissions for only 24 hours after the original deadline. A student submitting a report more than 24 hours late, but before the Sunday deadline, must contact their lab TA to arrange the submission. Contacting the TA does not waive the applicable late penalty.
Use the provided templates for your lab reports. The top of the first page of each lab report must contain your name, your lab partner's name, your lab TA and section, the lab name, and the date the lab was scheduled. Lab reports must be typed fully. No handwritten equations are accepted. All tables and figures should be titled, and all tables, figures, and equations must be clearly referenced with a number. Attach printed figures and other materials the end of the report. Label appropriately.
Lab reports should be written in a concise paragraph format (use few, carefully chosen words) and directly answer the questions asked. Use plots, equations, and data to support your answers. Do not reiterate the lab procedure in your report. Only include plots and tables which are actually referenced in the report. One good plot type is to include multiple well-labeled curves on a single plot, thereby showing a trend as one parameter changes. Another type of plot to include shows a single curve with extra markings indicating how you measured certain properties of that curve.
The text of your report should not exceed a few pages. Reports may be docked points for being overly wordy.
Do not critique the lab in the report. If you do have suggestions or find problems, please alert the TA's or Dan Block as appropriate.
NOTE: The final project reports are to be written and turned in as a group. They should be more formal and thorough than normal lab reports.
Lab Etiquette
In order to create a pleasant working environment for all students, the following guidelines are to be followed while in lab:
- No foul or obscene language or gestures.
- No typing or talking while the TA is addressing the class.
- Turn off cell phones and other communication devices.
- If desks, chairs, etc. are moved during the lab, put the lab back in order.
Failure to follow these guidelines will result in a warning for the first offense, and points deducted from the checkout grade for each subsequent offense.
Artificial Intelligence Use and Disclosure
Generative artificial intelligence tools may be used only as limited aids in preparing ECE 486 lab reports. AI tools must not replace the student’s own technical reasoning, analysis, interpretation, or understanding of the laboratory work.
Permitted uses of generative AI include correcting grammar, spelling, or wording; improving the organization or readability of text originally written by the student; assisting with the typesetting or formatting of mathematical equations, including converting equations into LaTeX or another required format; and generating or correcting simple MATLAB code used for calculations, data processing, or plotting.
All plots submitted in a lab report must be generated through MATLAB code using the actual experimental data collected during the laboratory session. AI tools may assist students in writing or correcting MATLAB plotting code, but AI image generators or other tools that directly create plot images may not be used. Submitted plots must be reproducible from the MATLAB code and experimental data used by the student.
Students are responsible for reviewing, understanding, testing, and verifying all AI-assisted text, equations, MATLAB code, calculations, and plots before submitting the report. Students must be able to explain all submitted work, including any AI-assisted material, to the TA or course instructor.
Generative AI may not be used to perform or write the student’s analysis or interpretation of experimental results; answer lab-report questions on the student’s behalf; write the analysis, discussion, evaluation, or conclusions of the report; generate technical explanations that the student does not independently understand; or generate, fabricate, reconstruct, replace, or improperly alter experimental data.
All experimental data presented in a report must come from the laboratory work performed by the student and their laboratory partner. Students may not change measured values, create missing measurements, remove results merely because they do not agree with theory, or modify data to produce a preferred result. Any fabrication, unauthorized alteration, or misrepresentation of experimental data constitutes a violation of academic integrity.
Every lab report, including the final project report, must contain an AI Use Disclosure. The disclosure must be written as a short paragraph that identifies each AI tool used, its provider, the specific model and version when available, the purpose for which it was used, and the portions of the report affected. If the tool does not display a model or version, the student must state that the model or version was not displayed rather than guessing. Students who did not use generative AI must include a statement that no generative AI was used.
An acceptable disclosure may use the following format: “I used OpenAI ChatGPT, GPT-[model and version], to correct grammar and improve wording in Sections 2 and 4, convert the equations in Section 3 into LaTeX, and assist in generating and correcting MATLAB code used for calculations and plots. All plots were produced in MATLAB using the experimental data collected during the lab. The calculations, technical analysis, interpretation of the results, discussion, and conclusions were completed by me. No AI tool was used to generate, replace, fabricate, or alter experimental data.”
Disclosure does not make an otherwise prohibited use permissible. For example, a student may not use AI to write the analysis, interpretation, discussion, or conclusions merely because that use is disclosed.
If a TA identifies credible evidence of undisclosed or prohibited AI use, the student may be asked to explain the submitted work and provide relevant supporting materials, such as original MATLAB code, calculations, drafts, prompts, or document revision history. The TA will refer the concern and supporting information to the course instructor. Any potential academic-integrity violation will be reviewed and addressed in accordance with the University of Illinois Student Code.
Additional guidance concerning the responsible use and acknowledgment of generative AI is available through the University of Illinois guidance on acknowledging AI use and citing AI-generated content.
Academic Integrity
In this course, unless otherwise stated, each student must do his/her own work, and cheating will not be tolerated. If students are caught cheating, the professor will be notified and students will be issued a severe penalty.