SLEMAN - Students of Universitas Pembangunan Nasional "Veteran" Yogyakarta (UPNVY) and Singapore Polytechnic (SP) performed service in Pakembinangun Village, Pakem Sub-district, Sleman. They mingled with the community to solve the problems in the village,

Wrapped in Learning Express (LEx) program, 29 UPNVY students collaborated with 28 SP students for 10 days from 30 March to 9 April 2018. The cooperation built since 2014 has been increasingly aggressively conducted to build the quality of human resources through the activities of dedication community.

"They are divided into 3 groups. Each group contains of a mixture of UPNVY and SP students. They work together " said the Head of UPT Language Laboratory, Dr. Ir. R.R. Rukmowati Brotodjojo, M.Agr when met on a series of Gallery Walk on UPN Condong Catur Campus, Monday (9/4/2018).

This activity was carried out with the development of Design Thinking and Team Bonding learning. This learning was a method that focused on solving problems explored through the field observations and oriented towards the creation of products or programs.

The series of activities were divided into six stages which were the stages of the DT method, namely Sense and Sensibility, Define, Ideation, Prototyping, Co-Creation, and Gallery Walk.

"All students will go through six stages which are the stages of design thinking itself," explained Rukmo.

At the stage of Sense and Sensibility and Define, the students came to the field and together with the community made a rectitude to make an outline of the problems faced by the community.

Furthermore, at the stage of Ideation and Prototyping, the students  returned to the campus and designed ideas and created the tools that could solve the problems faced by the community. In this process the students  began to discuss intensively with their respective groups.

One group named  Halimah Team created a tool called the Fish Scrather Machine. This tool was created to answer Mother Halimah's unrest, one of the communities they met. Ibu Halimah is a farmer who has a sideline job as a Abon Fish maker. She claimed that she could not produce abon in large quantities in a short time while the consumer demand was very high. Her hand is also often injured when separating meat with fish spines.

Isnatun Khairiah, Agribusiness student of UPNVY who is also a member of  Halimah Team conveyed that the tool she made with SP students has been approved and in accordance with the needs of Abon business owners in Pakembinangun Village.

"Previously we conducted the Co-Creation stage, which is the activity of presenting ideas or tools that have been created to the community in the observation village. The tools we present have been viewed and approved by the business owners as well as village apparatus. In fact, she was very happy to see the tool we made, "said Isnatun.

In addition to  Halimah Team, the other two teams also produced interesting designs and creations. Bapak Team showcased the creation through Rainboo tool, which is a kind of bamboo frame that is used as a protector of fish from the threat of predators. The other team, Wishful Wahyu Team, made a model of village tourism design. They made the design to see the potential of embung or springs that exist in Pakembinangun to become tourist attractions. (wwj / humas)