Institutional Design Thinking: Re-Architecting Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment for Meta-Skills in Chinese Private HEIs

This article examines how Design Thinking (DT) can be mobilized as a structured, evidence-informed logic for institutional innovation in higher education, using the development of a meta-skills-oriented academic management framework for Chinese private HEIs as a case. Meta-skills—adaptive expertise, relational dynamics, creative agility and strategic synthesis—are conceptualized as outcomes of institutional design rather than individual traits. The five DT phases (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test) were enacted through mixed inputs, including PNImodified gap analysis from 805 staff, meta-skills survey data from 400 students, expert interviews and two-round validation with 12 senior experts. The resulting framework comprises three modules: Agile Meta-skills ntegration (curriculum), Immersive Experiential Pedagogy (teaching and learning), and Smart Meta-skillsAssessment (evaluation). Expert ratings improved from draft 1 to draft 2 across relevance, feasibility, clarity, scalability and cultural alignment and a short pilot indicated modest gains in strategic synthesis and relational dynamics. Overall, the findings suggest that DT can operate as an institutional governance capability that links diagnostics, co-design and iterative refinement to meta-skills-oriented academic reform.