SUMENEP, ITS News — The transformation of Arts, Culture and Skills (SBK) learning at the Elementary School (SD) level is now being intensified through real collaboration between the academic world and the community. The Nusantara Arts Innovation Program (PISN) Team of the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Surabaya successfully held a training to increase the pedagogical capacity of teachers at the SDN Pordapor II building, Guluk-Guluk District, Sumenep Regency (25/7).
Using a participatory workshop method, this activity involved the Teacher Working Group (KKG) of Guluk-Guluk District, consisting of 98 teachers from 10 elementary schools. The event was attended by 100 participants, including 10 principals, class teachers, and school supervisors from the Sumenep Regency Education Office.
The Nusantara Arts Innovation Program (PISN) is a community service program run by the Directorate of Research and Community Service (DPPM) under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemdiktisaintek). This program is specifically designed to encourage the implementation and development of arts innovations within universities to preserve local culture, expand collaborative networks, and provide tangible and sustainable positive impacts on society.
This training was motivated by a fundamental issue in the field: most teachers teaching SBK subjects in lower grades (Phases A and B) are non-arts teachers who teach intuitively and repetitively. Yet, coloring activities at this age play a vital role in stimulating students’ fine motor skills, emotional regulation, and aesthetic sensitivity within the Merdeka Curriculum framework.
Responding to this challenge, the ITS PISN team from the Faculty of Creative Design and Digital Business (F-DKBD) led by Naufan Noordyanto SSn MSn (Department of Visual Communication Design/DKV), together with lecturers Gunanda Tiara Maharany SDs MDs (Department of Product Design), Mohamad Rijal Iskandar Zhulqurnain SM MComm (Department of Business Management), and assisted by three ITS DKV students, presented a concrete solution in the form of artistic innovation, from the social and production aspects.
The development process for this media was lengthy and meticulous. The mapping of cultural materials, visual concepts, and work planning were intensively developed in March 2026. Following the signing of a contract from the ITS Directorate of Research and Community Service (DRPM), the development of ideas and sketches began in earnest in May 2026. Throughout the process, the illustrations underwent numerous revisions to ensure two crucial aspects: the accuracy of the representation of Madurese local content and the suitability of the line and compositional difficulty levels for lower grade elementary school children.
The result was the creation of 10 A3-sized educational illustrations based on Madurese local wisdom. The series of works includes a variety of iconic visuals: Bull Races , Sonok Cows , Sumenep Mask Dance Performances , Pè-sapèan (miniature bull race racing), Music Performances , Learning to Make Batik , Madurese Keris Exhibition , Working in Salt Ponds , Rokat Tasè’ / Petik Laut (sea floating tradition), to Madurese Satay Sellers . All works were also validated by Madurese cultural figures and their coloring techniques were explored with Pamekasan artists. Before being taught to teachers, the drawing media created by the ITS team was first tested ( pilot project ) on students in grades 1–3 at SDN Pordapor II on June 17–19, 2026. The students welcomed the media with high enthusiasm, proving that contextual visual works can ignite their enthusiasm for learning. As a text caption, this coloring media uses letters (fonts) produced by the Fontcamp Type Foundry research team, Creative and Digital Media Laboratory, ITS DKV Department.
At the peak of the teacher workshop , the participants were invited to directly practice color theory starting from the introduction of color variations, color mixtures, gradation techniques, to scraping techniques using crayons and oil pastels . The atmosphere of togetherness was thick when the teachers colored in groups at a large table under the guidance of ITS speakers. To ensure the sustainability of the program, the ITS PISN team handed over assistance in the form of coloring equipment such as Silky Crayons , Oil Pastel , paper stumps , scraping tools, and 5000 sheets of printed image media to 10 partner schools, namely members of KKG Gugus 01, Guluk-Guluk District, Sumenep.
This step continues the digital dissemination of ITS’ Madurese cultural illustrations. PDF files containing color palette sample sheets, black-and-white outline coloring sheets , and manual coloring examples are being distributed free of charge for public download and reproduction via https://linktr.ee/fontcamp
Guluk-Guluk District School Supervisor, Mahmud MPd, highly appreciated the training and hoped that the dissemination of ITS’s learning support media would be consistently implemented by schools. The Head of KKG Cluster 01, Ach Wachedi SPd, also expressed gratitude that elementary school teachers with non-fine arts competency backgrounds received technical provisions and hands-on experience that were highly applicable to SBK learning in the classroom.
Naufan Noordyanto, the team leader, expressed his deep gratitude to the DPPM Kemdiktisaintek and DRPM ITS for their full support in the success of this program. He expressed high hopes for the continued use and dissemination of the media created.
Through this activity, the ITS PISN Team invites teachers, parents, and students to make maximum use of this coloring media facility to advance children’s aesthetic sensitivity. Naufan hopes that this illustration sheet can be an essential visual learning aid for educators as well as an effective instrument in instilling the seeds of love for the homeland through the noble cultural values displayed. This coloring media can be downloaded for free by anyone for school learning or home activities through the link provided by entering personal data. “Hopefully, through the colors that children draw, the philosophy of Madurese tradition can blossom beautifully in their souls,” concluded Naufan. (*)
HUMAS ITS