Future Problem Solving is a program that students considered "Talented and Gifted" (aka TAG participants) participate in around the globe. There are many different competitions based in future problem solving which consist of team packets, individual packet writings, scenario writing, and community problem solving (CmPS). High school students, ages ranging from fourth to twelfth grade, may have the opportunity at there school to participate in future problem solving. There even exists adult-oriented future problem solving competitions.

Future problem solving was originally started in 1974, by Dr. E. Paul Torrance, as a program that would assist the learning and growth of accelerated learning children. The focus of learning for these children are based on creativity, future problem solving, thinking outside the box, and learning facts and figures.

As a future problem solver myself, I know that I have gained a high level of these skills due to the fact that this program aided my creativity and provided me with an ocean of knowledge to tap into. I was lucky to have been found and trained by the current Iowan President of Future Problem Solving, and have since made it to the state competition many times and even placed 13th in the world last year.

Future problem solving is not an easy activity to participate in, as not only do participants need to come up with solutions to a problem, but find and identify the problem itself. Many times, however, problems are not "clear cut", meaning that the future problem solvers working on any given assignment do not have a certain path that needs to be taken, but many different paths may be followed.

The way future problem solving teams and individuals are judged is made up of three different levels of competition, excluding adult competition, while "packet evaluators" score a certain amount of packets based on many factors. The three levels of competition are as follows:

Divisions-

Junior: Grades 4-6 (Elementary school students)

Intermediate/Middle: Grades 7-9 (Middle school students with a touch of entering high schoolers)

Senior: Grades 10-12 (High school students)

The back bone of future problem solving consists of six general areas:

Step 1: Challenges

Each future problem solving group works on either a local area problem or a more general, inductive reading assessment of a "future scene" where problems/challenges are analyzed. Many future problem solving competitions focus on identifying multiple problem, but several competitions involve focusing entirely on one problem/challenge and its effects on the world around it.

Step 2: Underlying Problem (UP)

The underlying problem is the basis of any future problem solving teams entire packet - or the bread and butter of the competition. The underlying problem is chosen out of the challenges identified in the earlier step. A decent writer in the future problem solving team/group then proceeds to go in-depth about the chosen problem until the next step takes place.

Step 3: Solutions

With any problem comes....solutions! The future problem solving team brainstorms and proceeds to write solutions for the underlying problem, going into a decent amount of depth. Variation is the key to problems and solutions, as duplicates problems and solutions do not count in the overall packet score. Solutions can sometimes be the hardest step for future problem solving teams and individuals, as problems can usually come from the future scene while actualy brain activity has to take place for making solutions.

Step 4: Criteria

Well, we've got some challenges/problems, picked the most threatening one for step 2, and even come up with some solutions, so now what? Step 4, the criteria section, is the process in which the best solution is chosen, or the things each solution will be judged upon. Criteria writers need to focus on retrieving a few of the criteria from the future scene giving to their future problem solving team, and then focusing on the rest of the criteria as adverbs (quickly, efficiently, etc.). Criteria should be a no-brainer for future problem solving teams and is the quickest step to do.

Step 5: The Grid

The grid basically has the appearance of an microsoft excel document. The top eight solutions, chosen by the future problem solving team, get placed in the grid and are judged based on the chosen criteria (see step 4). Each solution get placed a number ranging from one to eight, eight being the number that most highly passes the current criteria. Upon summing up the total points, the last step is finally possible.

Step 6: The Action Plan

Using the solution that scored the highest in the previous step, the grid, the action plan is the actual solution that will be carried out or used as the frosting on the future problem solving packet cake.  The action plan is a very detailed writing of the best solution, and it includes a lot of information about who, what, where, when, why, and how a plan will be carried out.

Future problem solving is a very difficult program that stretches the minds of individuals and helps prepare participants for a society and world of change.  As skills grow and are obtained through this program, students achieve higher levels of success and learning.  Future problem solving can be the key to a students success in learning and if this program is available, I would highly recommend participation.