Students who want to be successful in step 1 challenges should review these tips for success! During competition, challenges are scored for fluency, flexibility, clarity, insight, and originality. The step as a whole is also scored for the fundamental concepts relating to creativity, research, and futuristic thinking.
#1 Connect ideas to the future scene
All challenges should come from within the boundaries of the future scene. Though research trends may point in several directions, students must use the scene as the basis for their work.
#2 Develop your ideas
Each challenge idea should include what the challenge is, why it is a challenge, and should clearly connect to the future scene. Write your challenges as statements, not questions.
#3 Write as possibilities
Write your challenges as possibilities. Using verbs of possibility is an important part of projecting into the future. It is impossible to know what will or will not occur in the future. Use words like “may,” might,” or “could” to show possibility instead of certainty. If you use “will” your score will be lower for step 1.
#4 Be clear
Write your idea clearly and concisely. The more clear your writing is, the easier it will be for an evaluator to understand your idea. If you notice you are writing a challenge with a long chain of effects, you may have combined too many ideas. Remember to write only one idea for each challenge.
#5 Consider many perspectives
Think about the stakeholders in the future scene. Stakeholders are people and groups in the future scene. How might different groups of people experience the events in the future scene differently? You can also use the categories list to spark ideas about other issues in the future scene. The more diverse your challenges are, the higher your score will be.
#6 Show cause and effect relationships
Expand your challenge idea using logical cause and effect relationships. What might happen if nothing changes in the scene? Check out our Futures Wheel tool to practice this skill.
#7 Refrain from restatement
Students can use stated facts or challenges from the scene, as long as they provide additional reasoning. Avoid only repeating a problem from the scene by adding possible effects of consequences. Students who do not elaborate on their ideas outside of the future scene details will not receive points.
#8 Choose your best ideas
When generating ideas, you may come up with more ideas than you need. With the scoring guidelines and these tips in mind, choose a variety of challenges that are important to the future scene. Would solving this problem have an impact on the scene? Do the ideas connect to many categories? Are some challenge ideas related to the future scene charge?
#9 Apply relevant research
When you write challenges you can use information from your research to add context or depth to your idea. However, not all of your research on a topic will relate to the future scene. Avoid writing challenges that are only from your research. Ideas from research only may not be connected to the future scene which will lower your step 1 score.
#10 Avoid extremes
When explaining possible effects in a challenge, avoid extreme and catastrophic consequences. Less extreme effects are easier to solve and provide a clearer connection to the future scene. Death, economic collapse, and the end of the world are too layered to address in a two-hour writing competition. Illness, economic strain, and civil unrest are less extreme alternatives students may consider.
