Students from diverse backgrounds often bring unique perspectives to collaboration. Alfia Sabrina Oktavia, an undergraduate student in Actuarial Science at Universitas Gadjah Mada, shared her experience in creating a creative project during the Digital Program at the UNESCO-UNITWIN Digital and Leadership Training 2024. This internationally organized program provided intensive training in both programming and leadership.
Working alongside two teammates from different disciplines, Alfia and her team developed a digital adaptation of the board game Monopoly as their final project. The project not only aimed to showcase a simple game but also demonstrated how basic mathematical principles, such as prime numbers, could be integrated into the gaming experience. Using a program designed with Python, users could input how many times the dice would be rolled, and the movement of the game pieces on the board would be automatically visualized, complete with bonus points if the dice resulted in a prime number.
“The inspiration for this project came from a discussion with my Korean friend, who introduced me to a local board game called Blue Marble,” Alfia explained. “We decided to adapt this concept and integrate mathematical elements to add a challenge to the game.”
The project was a result of collaboration that involved the direct application of materials learned during the training, such as mathematical logic in Python programming. Alfia and her team successfully presented this project, showcasing how interdisciplinary collaboration can produce innovative and practical solutions.
More than just a competition, this project reflected the real contributions of participants in developing technology-based solutions to enhance user experiences. This aligns with UGM’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly goal number 4 (Quality Education) and goal number 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), where digital education and technological innovation play key roles in advancing the global community.
The training program also aimed to empower women through digital education, in line with SDG number 5 (Gender Equality). The collaboration between UNESCO-UNITWIN and Sookmyung Women’s University highlighted the importance of creating an inclusive environment for women in developing technological and leadership skills.
Alfia hopes that programs like these will be more widely promoted so that more students can experience the benefits of international collaboration and the application of digital technology in real-world projects. “This experience has greatly broadened my horizons, not only in programming but also in understanding the importance of working in teams with diverse backgrounds,” she concluded.
Keywords: Gender Equality, Quality Education, Outstanding Students
Author: Endang Sulastri
Photo: Alfia Sabrina Oktavia