About Me.

I’m Steve Saunders, an educator, researcher, and technology professional focused on computing education, artificial intelligence, and modern web technologies. My work combines teaching, software development, and research to explore how emerging technologies can improve learning experiences and support student success.

After graduating college, I began my career working for a software company before pursuing a different path in broadcast journalism, spending time in both television and radio. Eventually, I relocated from Connecticut to Omaha, where my passion for technology and education led me into the fields of computer science and artificial intelligence education. That unique blend of industry, media, and academic experience continues to shape my approach to teaching, communication, and technology today.

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Teaching.

For the past eight years, I have taught courses in computer science, programming, databases, artificial intelligence, and digital literacy across higher education. I currently serve full time at Metropolitan Community College and part time at University of Nebraska Omaha and Iowa Western Community College. My teaching philosophy focuses on making complex technical concepts approachable, practical, and relevant to real-world problem solving while helping students build confidence in rapidly evolving technology environments.

My recent teaching and curriculum development work emphasizes AI literacy, contextualized prompt engineering, and problem solving with agentic AI systems. I help students move beyond simply using AI tools by teaching them how to critically evaluate outputs, communicate effectively with AI systems, and integrate AI into authentic workflows responsibly and ethically. Alongside AI-focused instruction, I continue teaching foundational and advanced topics in programming, web technologies, object-oriented design, and database systems, helping students develop both technical skills and adaptive thinking for modern technology careers.

Research.

My research focuses on computing education, artificial intelligence, and student learning experiences within computer science education. In particular, I study how students perceive and interact with different forms of feedback in programming courses, including feedback generated by large language models, human instructors, and hybrid AI-human approaches. My work explores themes such as trustworthiness, correctness, relevance, and depth of feedback while investigating how AI can support student success without replacing meaningful human instruction.

More broadly, my research interests include AI literacy, ethical and responsible AI integration in education, contextualized prompt engineering, and the role of agentic AI systems in problem solving and learning. Through this work, I aim to develop practical strategies and frameworks that help educators integrate emerging technologies into teaching in ways that are pedagogically effective, transparent, and student-centered.

presentations.

I regularly collaborate with schools and organizations to support conversations surrounding artificial intelligence, digital literacy, and emerging technologies. Through presentations, workshops, and professional development sessions, I help diverse and interdisciplinary audiences better understand AI concepts, responsible technology use, and the growing impact of AI tools in education and the workplace. My outreach work focuses on making technical topics accessible and approachable while encouraging thoughtful, ethical, and practical engagement with rapidly evolving technologies.