The Future Problem Solving Program was founded in 1974 by the late Dr. E. Paul Torrance. He designed the program as a way of helping capable students think more creatively and productively about critical issues.

The FPS Process is used in all competitions except the Scenario Writing and On-site Scenario Writing competitions.

The steps of the process are as follows:

• Brainstorming Possible Challenges:Find possible problems within the given Future Scene.
• Choose Underlying Problem:Determine the most important or consequential problem.
• Brainstorming Solutions:Write solutions to solve the Underlying Problem.
• Create Criteria:Write 5 criteria by which to judge the solutions.
• Evaluate Solutions:Judge the solutions with the criteria, and determine which solution is the best overall.
• Develop Action Plan:The highest-scoring (best) solution, as determined by the grid, is elaborated into a detailed plan for the implementation of that solution.

Many of these steps have predetermined structure to guide teams in their writing. For instance, the underlying problem (or U.P.) must include parameters (date, topic, place). Types of Competition There are several different types of competition within the Future Problem Solving (FPS) program, the most popular of which is the Team Competition. But there is also scenario writing, individual, and theater. For more information about FPSP, attending an event, or starting a team, please contact: info@azfpsp.org