Maaz Amjad has been awarded a TLPDC AI Mini Grant
Maaz Amjad, assistant professor of practice in the Department of Computer Science at Texas Tech University’s Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering, has been awarded a Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center (TLPDC) AI Mini Grant to support a pioneering approach to personalized feedback in computer science education.
The project, titled Using AI-based Autograder for Feedback Generation in Programming Assignments, received $2,000 in grant funding, with an additional $1,000 bonus contingent upon future publication. The initiative seeks to address a common challenge in computer science instruction: providing timely, personalized, and actionable feedback to large classes while upholding academic integrity.
“This project aims to foster a learning environment where AI is used responsibly to enrich students' educational experiences and prepare them for the future,” Amjad said. “I am committed to helping TTU become a leader in educational innovation.”
Amjad’s work aligns with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) focus area “AI for feedback and assessment.” The research will be piloted in CS 3361 – Concepts of Programming Languages, a required undergraduate course with consistently high enrollment.
The proposed AI-powered autograder will integrate large language models to automatically evaluate programming assignments and generate rubric-aligned feedback. In addition to streamlining grading processes, the tool will also detect AI-generated code in student submissions—a growing concern as traditional detection tools, such as Turnitin, are not designed to identify AI-generated programming.
A key component of the system is its ability to offer students individualized “study roadmaps” when errors or plagiarism are flagged. These roadmaps will guide students toward revisiting specific course concepts and curated external resources. The system is expected to reduce grading time by 30 to 40 percent while preserving meaningful instructor-student engagement.
“We don’t want to create just another tool—we want a solution that fits our needs and has a high adoption rate,” Amjad said.
The grant supports Texas Tech’s broader mission of responsible AI integration in education and reinforces the university’s commitment to academic excellence and innovation.
For more on the grant, visit the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Mini-Grants section of the Teaching, Learning, & Professional Development Center website.