Agentic Coding in Academia: An Example-Driven Approach to AI-Assisted Problem Solving
Tim Dams – AP University College (Belgium)
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Me when proposing this talk
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Me while I was making this presentation�(a month later)
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From 7 tot 33 active projects …
Me now
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Agentic Coding in Academia: An Example-Driven Approach to AI-Assisted Problem Solving
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New presentation title:
I Didn’t Mean To...
A year of solving everyday university problems with an AI that writes the code; and what I learned that you can use, even if you’ve never written a line of code yourself.��And I'm guessing some of you are in the same boat: teaching, advising, fixing your own tools on the side.
Why agentic coding?
“Build me something that solves this annoyance I’ve had for over 10 years….”
and having a working prototype in an hour.
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Showcases with lessons learned
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Case 1: Examon proctor overlay
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✕ PROBLEM
AP proprietary exam proctoring software is a pain to use for effectively spotting cheating without losing 2 full days of scrolling.
✓ SOLUTION
A new front-end that helps with triage. ��Result: cheating on the decline.
★ LESSONS
• Start with your own pain.�• Make sure your AI understands the system (API) it's talking to.
Protip: start with the api
Case 2: Untangle curriculum
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✕ PROBLEM
Five tracks × five learning lines. How do we align them without 5 weeks of work, 12 meetings and 2 burnouts?
✓ SOLUTION
Claude plugin in Excel … and we got more than we asked for (career mapping, bugs, etc.).
★ LESSONS
• Know what you need.�• Good data in == good data out.
Case 3: Grade importer
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✕ PROBLEM
We still need to manually type in grades. Yes, manually. Row by row. 🤬
✓ SOLUTION
A small browser extension inputs your grades from your excelfile with grades.
★ LESSONS
• Not every fix needs a new system.�• A.I. is very good at writing Chrome extensions.
Added bonus: IT is less prone to block extensions than custom software
★ Guess what — this is my most popular solution.
The boring half of teaching� Case 4a: Syllabus drift
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✕ PROBLEM
10+ years of teaching the same subject has resulted in a drift between syllabus and slides.
✓ SOLUTION — Claude plugin in PowerPoint + 2 prompts
“What's in the handbook that's missing from these slides, and vice versa?”�“Replace every code screenshot with the actual code as text. Keep my voice, keep the jokes.”
★ LESSON
AI is much better at detecting patterns than you are. Let it do the boring parts of your job.
★ Little tip: ask your AI to create schemas in mermaid
The boring half of teaching� Case 4b: Knowledge clip pipeline
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✕ PROBLEM
Creating modern, good-looking knowledge clips takes a lot of time … and an artist's eye, which I haven't.
✓ SOLUTION
Remotion.dev (free). Two steps:
1. TEACH CLAUDE (ONE-TIME)
Install Remotion Skills: npx -y skills@latest add remotion-dev/skills -g -y
2. ASK IT
“Given the following syllabus section, create a 1-minute knowledge Remotion clip. Use animations as much as possible to explain difficult concepts.”
★ Created in two prompts + 5 minutes of rendering.
Case 5: Conclave grader
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✕ PROBLEM
People are starting to use AI for grading … but can we trust a single model to do this?
✓ SOLUTION
A council-of-LLMs that discusses each other's grading and reaches a verdict.
★ LESSONS
• Definitely don't trust one model.�• AI-assisted grading costs money. Tip: openrouter.com
★ Try it yourself : see what your council says.
Some tips…If there’s still time ☺
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1
Talk like a human
not an IT-guy
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Plan first
build second
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Prompt the prompts
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Teach users to prompt
Tip 1: talk like a human, not an IT-guy
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✕
I never say
“Write me a Windows program in C# that reads a SQLite file…”
✓
I say
“Every exam, I waste twenty minutes clicking through the same screens. I want to see X, Y and Z on one page. Help me figure this out.”
AI is good at finding solutions. You’re better at naming problems.
Tip 2: plan first, build second
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✕
Don't say
“ask me if anything is unclear”
✓
Do say
“ask me questions afterwards”
★ MY FAVOURITE PROMPT
“Interview me as if I’m a client. Ask me what I actually need before you write anything.”
Tip 3: Prompt the prompts
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✎ PROMPT · ChatGPT Image Gen 2
“Given the presentation I added as a pdf… Create a prompt to give to an image generator to create a professional looking infographic. The generator is very strong (ChatGPT Gen 2) and is able to represent/show text.”
Tip 3: Prompt the prompts
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✎ PROMPT Claude gave me:
Create a professional conference infographic poster in 16:9 landscape format.
TITLE (large, top center, bold sans-serif, dark burgundy color):
"Agentic Coding in Academia"
SUBTITLE (smaller, just below):
"An Example-Driven Approach to AI-Assisted Problem Solving"
ATTRIBUTION (top right corner, small):
"Tim Dams · AP University College · Chania 2026"
COLOR PALETTE: deep burgundy/maroon (#7B2D3F), warm coral (#E89B7E),
off-white background (#FAF7F2), charcoal grey (#2C2C2C), single mustard
accent (#D4A24C).
MAIN LAYOUT: Five horizontal "case cards" arranged in a flowing path
across the center of the poster. Each card has:
- A small illustrated icon at the top
- A bold case number and title
- One short "Problem → Solution" line
- A coral lesson-badge
The five cards in order, left to right:
CARD 1 — Icon: laptop with webcam + magnifying glass
Title: "1. Examon Overlay"
Text: "Painful proctoring → triage front-end"
Lesson badge: "Start with your own pain"
CARD 2 — Icon: spreadsheet with branching lines aligning
Title: "2. Untangle Curriculum"
Text: "5 tracks, 5 lines → Claude in Excel"
Lesson badge: "Good data in = good data out
…
Another example
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Tip 4: teach users to prompt
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🐞
Reports a bug
Colleagues describe symptoms.�It sounds like a ticket.�AI gets fragments, not context.
💬
Describes a problem
What did they want to do?�What happened instead?�AI gets context, not fragments.
COACH THEM
“Don’t tell me what’s broken. Tell me what you wanted to do, and what happened instead.”
Now you…
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1
Pick a sigh-task
one weekly task that drains you
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Open Claude / ChatGPT
or whichever AI you use
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Type the prompt
and let it ask questions back
GO
✎ TRY THIS PROMPT
“I’m a teacher at a university college. Every week I do X. It takes me about Y minutes and it’s mostly clicking and copying. Is there a small tool I could use myself to make this faster? Ask me questions before suggesting anything.”
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Prompt prompts