Education Economics publishes Sheridan’s research on class length

Brandon Sheridan, an assistant professor of economics, co-published a paper showing that long classes may be more convenient for students, but decreases their ability to retain information.

Brandon Sheridan, assistant professor of economics in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, recently published an article in the peer-reviewed journal Education Economics on the effect of class length on the cognitive load of students.

The article, titled “Short vs. long: cognitive load, retention and changing class structures,” finds that student exam performance decreases by approximately one-half letter grade on content taught in the second half of a long class. This research is particularly relevant in a time when university class structure is changing to accommodate working students with longer night classes. Sheridan defines long classes as sessions in excess of two hours.

Sheridan co-authored the article with Ben Smith, assistant professor of economics at the University of Nebraska Omaha, and Erin Pleggenkuhle-Miles, assistant professor of management and business administration at the University of Nebraska Omaha.

The article was published online March 22 and will be available in print soon.

Sheridan received his doctorate in economics from the University of Kentucky and bachelor’s degrees in economics and government from Centre College. He teaches primarily macroeconomic courses, including Principles of Macroeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, and Money and Banking. He has also taught courses in International Trade and Economic Growth and Development.