Future Problem Solving Program International

FPSPI consists of state and nationwide organizations called affiliates. Each affiliate is responsible for conducting the competitions which take place in its own geographic area. Students begin preparing for competition at the start of each school year. Depending on the affiliate and the type of competition, there may be regional, state, or national levels of competition that take place during the year. Only the winners of any given competition qualify to proceed to the next level. The highest level of competition takes place at the annual International Conference (IC), which is held in May or June, at the end of the United States school year. The IC is held at the campus of a public university in the United States (the country with the largest number of competitors), with a new location being chosen every two years.

FPSPI was originally founded to train students to use a specific six-step problem-solving process:

1. Identify challenges that exist in a given situation.
2. Pick a high-impact "Underlying Problem" to focus on, formulated as an attainable goal that addresses the problem.
3. Brainstorm solutions to the Underlying Problem.
4. Develop criteria that measure solutions' positive impact on people affected by the Underlying Problem.
5. Evaluate and rank the solutions using the criteria.
6. Develop an elaborated Action Plan based on the highest-ranking solution.

The original Future Problem Solving competition—now known as Global Issues Problem Solving (GIPS)—evaluates students' competency in using this problem-solving process in the context of a fictional future situation. Students in the GIPS competition are grouped into grade level ranges and may compete as individuals or as teams of four. Prior to each competition event, FPSPI announces the competition topic (such as "Artificial Intelligence" or "Oceans") and provides a list of suggested readings. Students spend 1–2 months researching the topic with an eye to potential future challenges and solutions. At the beginning of the competition, students are given a Future Scene (FS), a one- to two-page document that describes the hypothetical future situation having to do with the pre-announced topic. Competitors then proceed according to the six-step process. Students are graded on their correct application of the process and on their use of cited research and creative originality.

FPSPI later developed additional programs that make use of the six-step problem-solving process, or that otherwise train students in creative critical thinking. In the Community Problem Solving (CmPS) competition, students are evaluated on how well they apply the process to present-day problems in their own community. The Action-based Problem Solving (AbPS) program adapts the process for classroom use. In the Scenario Writing competition, students write a short story, set at least 20 years in the future, based on one of the GIPS competition topics. The Scenario Performance component is similar but is geared toward students who prefer telling stories through oral communication. Finally, students can also compete in the Presentation of Action Plan competition. After completing the six-step process in two hours, students then immediately begin work on a second competition called "Presentation of Action Plan" in which they illustrate their final solution by preparing and performing a skit.

Each year, FPSPI releases a list of five study topics, one for each of the five GIPS competitions that occur each academic year.

• Allison Schroeder,[4] Academy Award-nominated screenwriter

• Future Problem Solving Program International