Meta-Skills as Managed Outcomes: A Delphi-Validated Implementation System  for Chinese Private HEIs

Chi Che

Authors

Chi Che Educational Leadership Department, International College, Payap University

Keywords:

Meta-skills, Implementation Governance, Curriculum Integration, Quality Assurance, Delphi Validation

Abstract

Chinese private higher education institutions are under growing pressure to demonstrate graduates’ meta-skills, yet implementation often stalls because curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, governance, and quality assurance are not sufficiently aligned. This study developed and validated an institution-level implementation playbook to support the systematic integration of meta-skills in Chinese private HEIs. Building on an earlier design-thinking-based framework, the study used a two-round modified Delphi process with 15 experts from private higher education institutions in Sichuan Province. Expert judgments were used to evaluate suitability, feasibility, and clarity, together with content validity indices and qualitative feedback, to refine five implementation domains: governance and decision rights, staged rollout, quality assurance embedding, evidence routines and key performance indicators (KPIs), and risk controls. Round 2 results showed stronger consensus, improved clarity, and high perceived suitability and feasibility across domains. Experts particularly emphasized the importance of explicit decision rights, protected workload, moderation routines, curriculum mapping, and minimum evidence standards for sustainable implementation. The findings indicate that meta-skills become scalable and auditable only when supported by coordinated institutional routines rather than isolated innovation efforts. The validated playbook offers a practical and transferable pathway for Chinese private HEIs operating under comparable governance and resource conditions.

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