Future Problem Solving Program International is celebrating 50 Years!
The year long celebration will culminate with the Future Problem Solving International Conference June 5-9, 2024 at the University of Indiana Bloomington.
Kentucky teams who place at our State Finals in March may earn an invitation to the International Competition to represent Kentucky on the world stage.
Kentucky has been a part of Future Problem Solving since 1988 with multiple top 10 finishes at the International Competition.
Kentucky: One of the International Leaders in FPS
Future Problem Solving (FPS) helps students obtain lifelong goals by teaching problem solving skills today. The diverse components of this internationally recognized, award-winning program prepare students for emerging new realities.
The Institute for Competition Sciences has recognized KAAC as the number one FPS affiliate in the world.
KAAC offers FPS through Governor's Cup Team FPS and FPS Component Events.
What is FPS?
Through academic competition, students apply critical thinking, advanced problem solving, and decision making skills to hypothetical future scenarios using the following FPS Six-Step Process:
- Step 1: Identify potential challenges or concerns from the Future Scene.
- Step 2: Identify a singular underlying problem.
- Step 3: Identify potential solutions to the underlying problem.
- Step 4: Develop criteria to judge potential solutions and their positive impact.
- Step 5: Evaluate and rank the potential solutions using criteria to rank solutions in order of importance.
- Step 6: Develop a complete action plan based on the highest-ranking solution.
Component Events
- Community Problem Solving (CmPS) - An individual or team of students work to identify a problem that exists in their school, community, state, or nation. Participants utilize the Six-Step Process to examine this area of concern, then develop and implement real-world projects to address these problems.
- Scenario Writing - Individual students write 1500-word stories related to one of the five yearly FPS topics. Each fictional story must be set at least 20 years in the future and outline logical events taking place in the world.
- Scenario Performance - Individual students develop and deliver oral stories related to one of the five yearly FPS topics. Each oral story is set 20 years in the future and should be told in a natural and spontaneous nature that is creative and entertaining to an audience.
- Junior Division FPS - A team of four students in grades 4-6 may participate in the Junior Division of FPS.
- Individual FPS - Individual students work through the FPS Six-Step Process and have two hours to complete a booklet. Individuals generate eight challenges in Step 1 and eight potential solutions in Step 3. The other steps are the same as the team competition.
- FPS Alternates -The FPS Alternates competition is for students who are part of a team that qualified for the State Finals, but are not actually competing in Governor’s Cup team FPS. The FPS Team Alternates Competition is held at the Governor’s Cup State Finals. It is NOT part of Governor’s Cup. Each FPS Alternates Team will consist of not more than four students from different schools who work through the FPS process. Each team generates 8 challenges in Step 1, and 8 solution ideas in Step 3. Step 2, Step 4, Step 5 and Step 6 are exactly the same as the team competition. Participants have 90 minutes to complete a booklet.
Questions?
Don’t let your FPS questions go unanswered. We’re here to help. Give us a call at (502) 223-0088 or email us at Chris Hill.