Future Problem Solving

Future Problem Solving (FPS) is a competitive educational program based on a six-step problem solving process developed by creativity pioneer Dr. E. Paul Torrance in 1974 to challenge young people to think more creatively about the future. The FPS Program goals are aligned with National Curriculum Standards, National Association for Gifted Children Curriculum and Instruction Standards, and 21st Century Learning. Activities are yearlong and open to students in grades 4-12 in a variety of components: Team Global Issues Problem Solving, Scenario Writing, Community Problem Solving, and Individual Global Issues Problem Solving.

Future Problem Solvers register through affiliate programs, either through a state program in the United States or through a country’s affiliate program in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore. 250,000 students from across the globe participate each year. All affiliates operate under the [Future Problem Solving Program International[1]] (FPSPI), a nonprofit educational corporation that hosts the International Future Problem Solving Conference each June at a rotating site, usually a university.

The course Solving Problems is also available to complement this course.

21st Century Learning Skills

The Future Problem Solving Program International prepares students for the future by teaching essential problem solving skills. The challenging materials of the Future Problem Solving Program are designed to help students learn how to think, not what to think. Future Problem Solving provides students effective leadership skills, the ability to generate a wide variety of ideas, and decision-making strategies. Team work is an important element for developing the techniques needed to communicate ideas with others, and participants take away critical thinking and creative analysis skills. The program encourages students to develop a vision for the future and improves research proficiency.

The Six Step FPS Process

The Future Problem Solving process involves a six-step model that identifies possible challenges with a given scenario and produces solution ideas. Students read a future scene provided by competition officials. The scenario relates to the research topic and takes place at least twenty years in the future. Participants determine challenges in the future scene and select an underlying problem, a section of the future scene that they will solve. Students write solutions to the underlying problem, incorporating research from their preparation, and measure the success of their top solution ideas to arrive at their best solution. The team’s action plan is a two-page detailed explanation of the team’s best solution idea.

The FPS process is scored based on clarity of the writing, feasibility of the idea presented, and statement form. The following is an overview of the written structure of the six-step process:

• Step One: Challenges - statements should explain what the challenge is, why it is a challenge, and how it relates to the future scene.
• Step Two: Underlying Problem - paragraph consists of a condition phrase or lead-in from the future scene, the stem, “how might we,” a key verb phrase which mandates what the team must solve, a purpose that describes the outcome of the key verb phrase, and the FPS parameters stated in the future scene, namely the topic, time, and place mentioned in the future scene.
• Step Three: Solutions - ideas identify who will implement a solution idea, what the solution idea is, how the idea will work, and why the solution idea solves the underlying problem.
• Step Four: Criteria - yardsticks to determine the importance of solution ideas should address only one concern, use a superlative to indicate desired direction, and be formed as a question.
• Step Five: The Grid - students apply a grid matrix to their most interesting solution ideas to determine the team’s most successful solution.
• Step Six: Action Plan - the team’s best solution is further expanded to explain in detail who will implement the solution idea and how and why the solution will be carried out.

Components of Future Problem Solving

Team Global Issues Problem Solving - involves teams of four students who work through the six-step process in a competitive situation. Students are guided through the Future Problem Solving process by their coach. Generally, two practice problems are submitted to state evaluators for feedback, and a state qualifying round determines the teams invited to the affiliate final. Winners at the state or affiliate level are invited to the International FPS Conference.

Scenario Writing - individuals compose an original short story of up to 1,500 words. The story is related to one of the year’s FPS topics and must take place in the future.

Community Problem Solving (CmPS) - students choose a real-life problem or threat in their community and use the FPS process to actively solve it. Students may incorporate existing service projects or create a new community initiative. Teams prepare a report based on their service project and document their efforts with a scrapbook, display, and digital presentation.

Individual Global Issues Problem Solving - students acting as individuals complete a shortened version of the FPS process over a competitive future scene.

How Schools Can Participate

During the school year, students learn the six-step FPS process and work together as a team to solve scenarios based on the future. Parents, teachers, or other volunteers interested in coaching an FPS team should contact their state or country’s affiliate director who will provide training and registration materials. Coaches training sessions may be available, and official publications may be purchased online at the [FPSPI Mart[2]].

Registration differs from affiliate to affiliate, but registration forms are generally due during the first quarter of the school year. The competitive components are divided into three divisions: junior division (grades 4-6), middle division (grades 7-9), and senior division (grades 10-12). Teams consist of four students, and all written work must be submitted on the FPS booklet pages. Students are responsible for writing 16 Challenges, an Underlying Problem, 16 Solutions, five Criteria, and the Action Plan, all within the two-hour time limit.

Most affiliates receive completed booklets via mail, but others host on-site competitions where competitors meet for two hours and complete a booklet in a competitive environment. Teams invited to the International FPS Conference travel to the appointed host site and spend four days meeting students from other affiliates, showcasing their talents, and competing for top honors.

The program depends on certified evaluators to score booklets and guide teams through the process. Evaluators complete grading rubrics or scoresheets for each booklet and rank teams according to points earned. Individual interested in becoming evaluators should speak with the affiliate director of their program in order to register for this important position.