FRCC professor is an expert in economics and artificial intelligence in education, guiding students to break through complex concepts and deeply understand their course material.
When you sit down with Jaren Seid, one thing becomes clear right away: He’s passionate about learning and helping students make sense of the world around them.
He’s been part of the Front Range Community College community since 2010, when he began as a part-time economics instructor.
By the fall of 2012, Jaren stepped into a full-time role, and today he serves as the lead economics faculty member for the college’s Larimer and Boulder County Campuses, as well as online.
Over the years, his work has expanded beyond the classroom to include research, online learning leadership and most recently, professional development focused on artificial intelligence in education.
Finding His Path in Economics
Jaren didn’t originally set out to study economics. He began as a business major, but after taking an econ class, he was “completely fascinated” and switched his major.
After working in the private sector, he realized that what he really wanted to do was teach. He returned to graduate school with that goal in mind and began teaching as a graduate assistant.
A Focus on Education
Not long after that, he found his way to FRCC. When asked what has kept him here for more than 15 years, he notes the college’s emphasis on learning.
“Front Range provides you with the opportunities to explore your interests and to engage in work that’s related to your field, but at the same time you’re part of an institution that is primarily focused on student success and education,” he explains.
For Jaren, that balance between academic exploration paired with a deep commitment to students is what makes community colleges special.
Exploring Open Educational Resources and Student Success
Early in his time at FRCC, Jaren was deeply involved in research on open educational resources (OER), including textbooks from OpenStax.
OER are freely accessible, openly licensed text, media and digital assets—such as textbooks, curricula and videos—that allow instructors and students to legally reuse, revise, remix and redistribute them. OpenStax provides those resources, such as free digital textbooks.
With a colleague and strong support from the college’s Department of Data Science & Institutional Research, Jaren helped analyze whether students performed differently using traditional paid course materials versus open resources.
Research That Can Guide Educators
The team examined a large dataset of student outcomes and compared final course grades across both types of materials.
The results? There was no statistically significant difference in performance.
“If students’ academic performance is no different with OER versus using a paid resource, then why are you charging students?” he asks.
These findings were submitted to the Journal of Economic Education and later presented at the American Economic Association’s annual Conference on Teaching and Research in Economic Education (CTREE), an opportunity to share FRCC’s work with colleagues across the country.
Since then, the course materials market has evolved, with prices dropping and digital tools becoming more robust and interactive. For Jaren, it’s a reminder that education is always shifting and that research helps faculty make thoughtful, informed decisions for students.
Leading the Way in AI and Education
More recently, Jaren’s focus has turned to artificial intelligence.
He co-facilitates FRCC’s AI Academy for faculty and staff, a professional development course offered through the college’s Teaching Excellence Center. He also runs a self-paced online course called Beyond the Prompt. Together, these programs help instructors explore AI pedagogy, AI literacy and practical classroom applications.
He describes AI as both “an extraordinary challenge” and “an extraordinary opportunity.”
A New Learning Partner
In the AI Academy, faculty begin by building a shared understanding of what AI is, then move into AI literacy and fluency, learning not just what the tools do, but how to use them thoughtfully and adaptively. Jaren often uses a car analogy: Literacy is knowing what a car is; fluency is knowing how to drive it; and adaptability is being able to drive it in a blizzard or in traffic.
In his own classes, Jaren is intentional about teaching students to use AI as a learning partner rather than just an answer generator.
“I’ve had students tell me, ‘I used to think using AI was just about getting answers, but I’m actually finding I can also use this as a learning tool.’”
The “Aha” Moment
Ask Jaren about his favorite part of teaching, and he doesn’t hesitate.
“When the students have that ‘aha’ moment, when they make the connection between the material and what they’re seeing in the world around them, that’s just wonderful,” he says.
In economics, those connections are everywhere, from inflation and unemployment to housing markets and consumer behavior. Seeing students recognize those patterns and feel empowered by their understanding is what makes the work meaningful.
Advice for Future Students
For students considering FRCC, Jaren keeps it simple:
“Come check us out.”
He points to small class sizes, personalized education and an institution whose priority is students first and foremost.
Life Outside the Classroom
Outside of work, Jaren’s favorite role is ‘dad.’ He enjoys spending time with his wife and their six-year-old daughter. While he once spent more time snowboarding, hiking, reading and playing the piano, these days the piano has a new owner.
“My piano became my daugther’s daughter’s,” he says with a smile.
Whether in the classroom, in faculty workshops or at home listening to piano practice, Jaren’s passion for learning remains at the center of everything he does.
