Dual Use of Time: Framework for Understanding Possibilities and Pitfalls

A typical concern among faculty faced with requests for adding new and broader learning outcomes to existing degree programs, is that they might be forced to reduce their core disciplinary curriculum to make place for these new outcomes. The CDIO response to this is dual use of time – by means of integrated learning experiences, the same course slot can be used both to convey core disciplinary knowledge, professional skills, and societal relevance. However, empirical evidence for the effects of dual use of time seem to be limited. In this paper, we review empirical literature on various types of integrated learning, namely project-based learning, work-integrated learning, and content-language integrated learning. In addition, we discuss cognitive load theory and whether its findings have implications for such dual-purpose educational designs. Towards the end, we briefly discuss some frameworks, possibilities, and pitfalls for such integrated teaching.