Future Problem Solving Program International

Future Problem Solving Program International- (FPSPI), formerly known as the Future Problem Solving Program (FPSP), aims to "engage students in creative problem solving". Founded by Dr. Ellis Paul Torrance in 1974, FPSPI was created to stimulate critical and creative thinking skills and to encourage students to develop a vision for the future. FPSPI features curricular and co-curricular competitive, as well as non-competitive, activities in creative problem solving. The Future Problem Solving Program International involves over 250,000 students annually from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Portugal, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Great Britain, Turkey, India and the United States.

The Future Problem Solving (FPS) Process is used in all competitions except the Scenario Writing competitions. The six steps of the process are as follows:

There are several different types of competition within the Future Problem Solving (FPS) program, the most popular of which is the Team Global Issues Problem Solving Competition.

Teams in this competition are composed of no more than 4 members. Each team can compete in one of the competition divisions. Teams compete by analyzing the provided Future Scene and completing their written "packet" or "booklet. The Future Scene is a one-page written scenario in an imagined future based on the current topic. Competitors find potential problems in the future scene based on logic and their topic research preparation. Each packet contains space for 16 challenges, an underlying problem, 16 solutions, 5 criteria, an evaluation grid, and an action plan. Each team, regardless of the division, has two hours to complete these steps in the qualifying, state, and international competitions.

Each year there are two practice problems, one qualifying problem, an affiliate level competition, and an international competition. Depending on the size of the FPSPI affiliate in that state or nation, the top 1 to 3 teams from the affiliate level receive the opportunity to compete at the International Conference. The competitors at the international level represent the top 1% of teams from around the world.

Individual competitions are similar to team competitions, except that only one competitor completes a packet. Individual competitors can complete a maximum of 8 challenges and solutions per packet.

Individual competition levels are the same as team competition levels.

When a team is selected to go to the international competition (and some affiliate bowls) they are allowed to bring up to two alternate competitors in case members of the winning team are unable to compete. If the alternates are not needed, they may compete in the alternate competition. This is the same as the team competition except all teams of four are created with alternates from various affiliates who have not worked together before.

...
Wikipedia