Research shows that soft skills are becoming increasingly important in the workplace. While technical skills are the primary focus of engineering jobs, meta-skills such as communication, teamwork, internationalism, cultural awareness, problem solving, and project management are key skills to learn during higher education. This article describes a pedagogical solution, HAMK Diili Week, which aims to develop students' meta-skills through the Design Factory project and team teaching. The Design Factory model seeks solutions to business challenges through service and product design. Its pedagogical basis is Design Based Education (DBE), which brings design principles into the classroom. It argues that learning is most effective when students engage in real-world problem solving through interdisciplinary projects.

The implementation was carried out at the very beginning of the studies for students of three degree programmes at Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK): Electrical and Automation Engineering, both Finnish and English, and International Business. There were 144 students from 17 countries who worked in 25 teams. Three senior lecturers from different disciplines were responsible for the guidance. During HAMK Diili Week, students solved challenges for five companies in multidisciplinary international project teams. The week culminated in pitch presentations of ideas, from which the winners were selected by representatives of the companies.

To assess the development of meta-skills, students were asked to rate their learning. The results show that while there are some differences between students from different programmes, the model is effective in developing problem-solving skills, language and communication skills, teamwork skills and intercultural interaction.

The lecturers must be prepared to face uncertainty and even confusion from students in the early days of the process as they learn to work in multidisciplinary, cross-cultural groups. The method is a step-by-step process, where ideas are refined into solutions and outcomes are not known in advance. Lecturers should not give ready-made answers but guide the process. It requires the lecturers to trust each other and to be prepared to respond together to unpredictable situations – so it deepens also the meta-skills of the teaching staff.

Keywords: Meta-skills, Design Based Education, team teaching.