A Guide
to the
Future Problem Solving Program
|
A Guide
to the |
This guide to FPS in Australia provides a detailed outline of the main aspects of the Future Problem Solving Program, including the Booklet Competition [Global Issues], Scenario Writing and Community Problem Solving (CmPS). It also contains some background information about the history and philosophy of the program, and a full catalogue of the resources and publications available for purchase.
Click on these links for:
The Future Problem Solving Program in Australia is a year-long program in which students learn to address complex scientific and social problems of the future through the use of a creative and comprehensive thinking process. The Future Problem Solving Program takes students beyond memorization. The process challenges students to apply information they have acquired by research to some of the most complex issues facing society. They are asked to think, to make decisions and, in some instances, to carry out their solutions.
The Future Problem Solving Program comprises five parts: the Booklet Program [Global Issues]; Scenario Writing; Community Problem Solving; Action-based Problem Solving; and using FPS in the classroom .
The challenging thinking process used in the Future Problem Solving Program is designed to help students learn how to think. Specifically, it motivates and assists students in:
In 1974, Dr. Paul E. Torrance was invited to work with a group of students in Athens, Georgia, USA. The invitation provided an excellent opportunity for Torrance, recognized worldwide for his work in creativity and education, to address two of his foremost concerns: the decline of creativity and the pessimistic attitude expressed by many young people towards the future. Combining a creative problem solving process developed for business by Osborn and Parnes with some potential problems of the future, Torrance launched what has become a large, international educational program - Future Problem Solving.
Around the world today, over an estimated 250 000 students are using the program's materials. In Australia the program has been incorporated into the curriculum of many schools and it is increasingly being written into text books in a variety of subjects.
The process used by students in the key options within the program was derived initially from the work undertaken on the creative thinking process by Alex Osborn and Sidney Parnes in the 1950's.
There are four divisions (Curricular, Junior , Middle and Senior ) to allow teams and individuals to participate and compete against students at a comparable level:
There are five options or types of program that are offered by FPSP Australia
in the Future Problem Solving Program. Click on the appropriate
name to go to the relevant option."
Generally, questions on any part of the Program can be answered by Niranjan
Casinader (National Director), Valerie Volk (Deputy National Director), any
of the State Convenors (see the National Committee
listing) or Suzanne Digby(Program Administrator). In some specific cases, a
member of the Committee has responsibility for a particular option: these individuals
are listed on the full committee list and are also available to help interested
coaches.
1 Booklet Program [Global Issues] click
here
2 Scenario Writing click
here
3 Community Problem Solving click
here
4 Action-based Problem Solving
click
here
5 School Curriculum click
here
The booklet program has both competitive and non-competitive components.
Competitive teams of four to six students in Years 5-12 work with coaches who assist them in gathering information and refining their problem solving and communication. After thoroughly researching a topic, students analyse a one-page future scene, which describes a situation which looks a specific area of the broader topic. This future scene is normally set about forty years in the future. The students then write up their six-stage analysis using a special booklet proforma. At regular intervals throughout the year the teams mail their work to evaluators who review it and return it with suggestions for improvement. As the year progresses, the teams become increasingly proficient at problem solving.
During the year teams work on three topics. The completed booklets are mailed to evaluators who score the work and return it with both praise and suggestions for improvement. This feedback is one of the major strengths of the program, for it leads students to growth and improvement. The competition motivates the students, but learning is the ultimate goal.
The diverse range of scientific, economic and social topics is chosen annually by a vote of students, coaches and Affiliate Directors. Some past topics include Immigrants, Water, Redistribution of Wealth and Media Impact
Of the three problems which students complete each year, the first two are completed for practice only, with the evaluators' scores and comments serving as a means of helping students improve. The third problem is competitive and must be completed within two hours. The top scoring teams receive invitations to participate in the Australian Final which is held in October. Winning teams in each of the three divisions are invited to attend the International Future Problem Solving Conference. The National Committee is also able to offer invitations to second-place getters on the basis of Australia's high number of FPS registrations.
There is a separate competition in all divisions for individual students should this be more suitable for their needs.
The annual International FPS Conference is held in June in the USA. Approximately 2500 students and their coaches convene for four days of competitive problem solving, cooperative educational seminars and cultural exchange.
Non competitive
There are several different options in this section:
Curricular:
Students who participate in this division are in the primary years, from beginners to 10 years of age. The size of a team is quite flexible. While teams of 6-8 students are most common, sometimes a whole grade prepares the booklet. The Curricular Division provides an excellent, fun way for younger students to learn and practise the important skills of creative problem solving. There are three problems for students to complete during the year.
The Booklet Program ( Non-competitive ):
For teams or individuals in the Junior, Middle and Senior
divisions.
Non school-based: Community groups of either children or adults who are not attached to a school
Non-competitive and Non school-based booklet teams generally
do 3 future scenes during the year. This allows teams to begin
at any stage throughout the year. As in the Regular Program, teams
research the topic, complete a team booklet, submit it for evaluation
by the due date and receive written evaluation of their work.
However, they have more time to complete each Problem as teams
and individuals are not eligible to be invited to participate
in the Australian Final in October. Team size is flexible.
Sample of booklets:
If you want to see the quality of work that students of all ages can produce in the Booklet Program [Global Issues], why not look at the work of the champion teams at the 2001 National Finals? Here are pdf files of the two future scenes ( Junior & Middle / Senior ) on Habitats which were used, plus the winning booklets from the Junior, Middle and Senior Divisions. Remember - these were done in two hours under lockup conditions in unfamiliar surroundings!
If you want to see what a completed booklet in the students' own handwriting looks like, corrections and all, have a look at this scanned booklet of the Senior Champion Booklet from the 2002 Australian Final. The future scene was on the topic of Environmental Law.
How are the booklets marked?
As Evaluation Co-ordinator, Murray Gill is responsible for ensuring that all booklets are evaluated properly and returned to schools by the dates indicated in the Registration Handbook. The processing of booklets takes place on specified weekends and since he also works full-time in a school , Murray is grateful if schools can co-operate by making sure that booklets are submitted to the FPSP office on time.(Full details on how this process occurs are described in the 2007 Registration Handbook)
Once booklets are received, they are sent out anonymously to evaluators in groups or bundles of 3-7 booklets, depending upon the number of booklets and available evaluators in that round. Evaluators only know teams by their team codes and coaches will only know the evaluator by their evaluator number used on the scoresheets. Great care is taken to ensure that no evaluator (teacher or senior student) marks any booklet from their own school. Booklets from each state / territory are mixed randomly to ensure comparability.
The international system of FPS evaluation, particularly in the Competitive program, is centred on the ranking of the booklets within the bundle. In order to allow for the inevitable subjectivity in the evaluation of any written work based on the concept of thinking and ideas, coaches need to emphasise with their teams that it is not the total score that counts, but their ranking. The evaluation system centres on the principle that different evaluators will rank the one bundle of booklets in the same way, regardless of what scores they give. So, if a school has two teams marked by different evaluators, and both are ranked second in their respective bundles, it does not mean that the booklet that has a higher raw score is necessarily better: they would have to be marked by the same evaluator in the same bundle to determine that.
Booklets in the non-competitive section are marked alone in that they are not ranked against others in the evaluator's bundle. In both the competitive and non-competitive sections, it is the evaluator's comments that should be looked carefully by the students, not their total score.
Scenario writing is another component of the multi-faceted Future Problem Solving Program. Students develop and submit pieces of writing containing up to 1500 words. These 'scenarios' are written in short story format, are based on one of the topics chosen for the year and must be set at least twenty years into the future. As in the other competitive components, students compete only against those in their own division. Winning teams in each of the three divisions are invited to attend the International Future Problem Solving Conference. Click here for a pdf file that gives a more detailed summary of the scenario writing component.
Students may submit a draft scenario and then their final effort later in the year or they may submit their finished piece only. In the former case, the draft is marked and returned with suggestions for improvement. The winning scenario writers are invited to the Australian Final to collect their awards. Some winning scenarios may be submitted to the International Office for consideration for an International prize.
In this aspect of the Program, students apply the problem solving process they have learned to real-life problems within their communities. Reports of problem solving projects are evaluated and winners at each of the age divisions may receive invitations to attend the International FPS Conference. A summary for new or interested coaches has been written by Ainsley Faulkner, an experienced International CmPS evaluator. There are essentially three aspects to the project: a preliminary report in August, the construction of a booth display whilst continuing to implement the plan of action in the local community, and the display of the booth, together with an extensive team interview, at the National Finals in October. Invitations to the Finals are issued on the basis of the Preliminary Report in August.
 |
An Australian Middle Division Booth Display
at an International Conference |
Teams of students in Community Problem Solving around the world have implemented a wide range of action plans, ranging from cleaning up hazardous waste to a program for finding homes for unwanted pets. Not all of these projects have to be completed in the course of one year. Students are evaluated on the progress that they have made in implementing their action plan and can therefore resubmit their project for several years in a row, providing new work has been done. The students in the group do not have to remain the same either, although it is obviously preferable that a core of the group remains. Such long term projects are very common in the USA.
Remember that Community Problem Solving is now available as an individual option as well as for a team. This makes the Program very relevant to schools offering the International Baccalaureate as the CmPS project is ideal for fulfilling the research and service aspects of the curriculum.
Click here to view and print a pdf file which summarises the nature and benefits of the Individual CmPS program.
Introduced in 2002, Action-based Problem Solving has been designed specifically for use in Prep-Year 4 classrooms. The whole class works together as a 'team' to complete the challenges that are presented to them. It introduces the classroom teacher and students to creative problem-solving and higher-level thinking and action skills in a non-threatening environment. As the students work co-operatively towards a common goal, they begin to see a "purpose" for their education and develop a personal commitment to learning. The concepts behind each problem-solving step are taught in short, but challenging, stages, thus making the concepts easy to understand and apply.
Action-based Problem Solving actively engages all students in learning, constructing meaning, and applying both knowledge and processes to real-life situations. It has real-world applications for authentic learning and is designed to guide students into community action. In this sense, it can be seen as being akin to Community Problem Solving for lower primary students.
Action-based Problem Solving provides a model that is effective in the classroom for all students. It can also be implemented as:
Classes in the Primary Division engage in problem solving using fairy tales throughout Semester one. By using well-known fairy tales written with a new twist, younger students are introduced to the procedural, brainstorming, decision-making and communication strategies needed for learning, in a fun, non-threatening manner.
In Semester two the students works on a challenge that is written by the classroom teacher. The advantage of having the class teacher write the challenge is that it can be specifically tailored to suit the class curriculum. Teachers may write a challenge to reflect an integrated unit of work or a specific curriculum area e.g. Science. Teachers may prefer to write the challenge on an issue that the class/school/community is dealing with e.g. bullying, lack of funding for sports equipment, traffic congestion around the school. The students work through the 5-step problem solving process and submit their Action Booklet for evaluation and feedback.
Many teachers and schools have expressed interest in using the FPS process as a basis for curriculum development, integrating the process into the mainstream learning program. This can be achieved by using the FPS process and/or Program components within a range of specific subject areas as well as interdisciplinary programs. Using this type of registration, which effectively the form of an annual license fee, schools will receive advice and support from FPSP staff to achieve the their curriculum goals. The annual license fee gives them the right to use the FPS process throughout all levels of their classroom teaching program, with no limit to the number of students taught. They will also receive access to purchase all Future Problem Solving published materials and the right to use them in the classroom (including copying rights), plus access to advice as to how their plans might be achieved. This support will include, at extra cost, access to the running of Professional Development sessions for staff by FPSP Australia. Schools will also be required to lodge with FPSP Australia full electronic copies of the curriculum documentation that is produced by the school and its staff in the teaching of the FPS-based curriculum.
Interested schools and coaches are asked to contact the National Office for more details.