Global Collaborative Learning (GCL) 2023

GCL is a collaboration between Ritsumeikan University in Japan, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Malaysia, Universitas Negeri Jakarta in Indonesia, and King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi in Thailand. This problem-solving learning program centered on innovative projects that addressed real-world issues. The project objectives involve the deliberate development of varied activity approaches, which are organized into two discrete periods with specific content for each. The two phases were completed both online and offline—online on the 21st and 22nd of August 2023 and offline in Japan from the 26th to the 2nd of September 2023—with an emphasis on design thinking, IoT prototyping, and project pitching, respectively.

GCL participants were chosen through an online process including four parties: Prof. Yuli Rahmawati (UNJ), Dr. Fauzan Khairi Che Harun (UTM), Prof. Asai Shizuyo (RU), and Dr. Tula Jutarosaga (KMUTT). Nine students from UNJ: Arifah Salsabil, Talitha Erinna, Aini Nurrohmah Husna, Rahma Nurmalita, Layla Apriliani, Moch. Adithya Dharmawan, Lauzer Zeral, Rafina Naqiyya Qatrunnada, and Meriana, were chosen to participate in this program based on the selection results.

Participants engaged in the design thinking process during the first phase with the goal of devising a solution to a specified problem connected to the issue in the campus cafeteria, food truck, and bus. Participants used a methodical approach that emphasized customer-centric design concepts to ensure that the proposed solution aligned with the customer’s individual needs and preferences.

Figure 1. Instructor (Dr. Fauzan Khairi Che Harun from UTM) delivered lecture about design thinking

During the second phase, students used design thinking to create a solution to a discovered problem (prototyping and testing). The participant engaged in the process of developing an Internet of Things prototype by first determining their project’s unique value proposition and then developing a minimum viable product for the goal of marketing their concept. The aforementioned topics were presented during a pitching session held at the end of the program.


Figure 2. IoT prototyping	Figure 3. Face recognition technology integration into the prototype making

Figure 4. Project presentation

GCL is more than just a knowledge and experience exchange. It is also about developing enjoyable cross-cultural relationships. Students from various countries, cultural backgrounds, and languages learn together and get an understanding of each other’s way of life and thinking. This is vital knowledge for attempts to foster cross-cultural understanding, global cooperation, and global innovation.

Figure 5. Instructors from (left) UTM, UNJ, RU and KMUTT