Our future scenes are imagined “what if” scenarios based on current topic information. Each year, teams of experts develop problem situations set 20-30 years in the future. In Global Issues writing, student work must relate to the future scene.
When applying the problem-solving process to the futuristic scenario, students treat it as reality. Students showcase their research, creative thinking, and futuristic ideas in their responses to the scene. Each year, registered students can experience two types of future scenes.
Practice (Non-competitive)
The first two topics of the year are practice problems. These future scenes are more open-ended to allow students room to develop their creative and critical thinking skills. Often, students and coaches work with these scenes over time. Some affiliate programs and coaches all students to use notes and research while they write. Our goal is for students to have time to learn and apply the 6-step process. Authentic assessment feedback, provided by coaches and evaluators, allows students to hone their skills before competition.
Competitive
Topics for the qualifying problem, affiliate finals, and world finals are competitive problems. The future scenes for these topics are more rigorous and specific. Competition scenes often focus on one major aspect of a topic, instead of a broad view.
Students learned the 6-step process during practice, now they thoughtfully apply the process in competition.
There are rules for competition. Students have two hours during competitions to complete the 6-step problem-solving process. They receive the future scene at the start of the two-hour competition time. No outside resources, other than a paper dictionary and thesaurus, are allowed during competition.
Top-scoring teams advance from the qualifying problem to their regional affiliate finals. Regional champions are invited to the world finals competition, the annual International Conference.
