Storrs, CT – The Future Problem Solving Program of Connecticut, Inc. (FPSPofCT) is hosting its 26th annual conference for Connecticut’s top student problem solvers at EO Smith High School on the UConn campus March 27th and 28th. Student awards will be presented to honor the Connecticut, New York and New Hampshire winners of the Future Problem Solving Competition.
FPSPofCT is a non-profit educational program that prepares Connecticut, New York and New Hampshire students for the future by teaching them the essential problem solving skills that they need today. The program teaches students how to think, not what to think. Teams of Future Problem Solvers have been studying the topic of ‘The Counterfeit Economy’ for the past two months in preparation for the state conference. On March 27th, the first day of the competition in Storrs, student teams and individuals alike will be presented with a possible future problem scenario that relates to the topic of ‘The Counterfeit Economy.’ Then students will use the program’s six step problem solving process to analyze the potential situation, determine the challenges, describe the underlying problem, outline solutions, evaluate solutions and detail their best solution. The competition is broken into three divisions based on age: junior division (grades 4-6), middle division (grades 7-9) and senior division (grades 10-12). The students’ work is evaluated by a panel of judges to determine who in Connecticut, New York and New Hampshire are the best group of Future Problem Solvers.
In its 26th year, FPSPofCT is also mentoring teams from New York and New Hampshire. Students from New York and New Hampshire will be at the conference and will have their own competition. This will enable these students to qualify for the International Competition.
On Friday the 27th, the students will register, enjoy opening remarks and write up their solutions for the to-be-announced challenge. On the morning of Saturday March 28th, the teams will begin preparing their skits for the competition later in the afternoon. The awards ceremony will take place on Saturday evening. Connecticut, New York and New Hampshire first place winners will then be invited to attend the International Future Problem Solving Conference at Michigan State University in East Lansing on May 28th – May 31st.
Community Problem Solving, or CmPS, is perhaps the most interactive and exciting component of the Future Problem Solving program. CmPS involves the seventh step of the problem solving process – implementation. Teams of students work together to determine a problem in their school, their community, the nation, or even the world. They then use the problem solving process to determine the underlying problem, generate and evaluate solutions, then implement the best plan of action. Individuals may also submit their community problem solving projects into competition. This year we have two exciting recycling projects from Coventry and Windsor. In both cases, they have been responsible for getting their schools to begin recycling in both their classrooms and in their cafeterias. In Greenwich, CT a group of students have worked to collect over a thousand books for a center that services underprivileged children.
About the Future Problem Solving Program
FPSPofCT, Inc. is a not for profit 501 c 3 educational organization dedicated to preparing Connecticut’s students for the future by teaching them essential problem solving skills. The challenging materials of the program are designed to help students learn how to think, not what to think. Future Problem Solving motivates and assists students to develop an active interest in the future, improve written and oral communication skills, work cooperatively, and develop research skills while learning about complex social and scientific issues. Students think on their feet - creatively, critically and analytically. FPSPofCT, Inc. is an affiliate of the International Future Problem Solving Program that includes over 250,000 students annually from the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Russia. For more information, please visit the national organization’s website at www.fpspi.org and the local Connecticut affiliate website at www.fpspofct.org.
How It Works: The Future Problem Solving Model
- Identify Challenges in the Future Scene
- Select an Underlying Problem
- Produce Solution Ideas to the Underlying Problem
- Generate and Select Criteria to Evaluate Solution Ideas
- Apply Criteria to Solution Ideas
- Develop an Action Plan
- Community Problem Solving: Implementation of Plan in the Community
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