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Columns::April 21, 2003
Honors and Awards
UGA’s top students and teachers recognized at Honors Day ceremony
The greening of South Campus
Flower(ing) power: UGA scientists plot key events in plant evolution
Office of Research Services appoints a new director
Education dean receives diversity award from housing residents
On-the-job training: Engineers team up with businesses for new designs
Lifelong interest in animals leads prof to career as wildlife biologist
Retirees
Kudos
Forum essay: International education
Making a scene
Across the board
Campus News
University hosts state championship for future problem solvers
By Michael Childs
mchilds@coe.uga.edu
About 30 academic teams--students and their teachers--from schools throughout Georgia will compete for state championships in the 29th annual Georgia Future Problem Solving Bowl, to be held in Athens April 25-26.
The event will involve more than 300 student participants who have earned the chance to compete at the state level for team championships. Some competitors have already won scenario writing and community problem solving components of the program.
The state champions in each of three divisions (junior, grades 4-6; intermediate, grades 7-9; and senior, grades 10-12) will represent Georgia at the 2003 International Future Problem Solving Conference, to be held June 5-8 on the campus of the University of Connecticut in Storrs.
Students from Alps Elementary, Clarke Middle and Cedar Shoals High schools represent Athens-Clarke County in the competition. The state bowl represents the culmination of Georgia’s Future Problem Solving Program, a year-long educational program designed to promote creative problem-solving, teamwork and constructive future images. Fittingly, the bowl begins on Gifted Education Day in Georgia.
Because creative problem solving is a required part of Georgia’s gifted education curriculum, it is often perceived as a program only for gifted students, says Susan Winstead, co-affiliate director of Georgia FPSP and coordinator of the Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development in the College of Education. “However, the content, skills and process offered by FPSP are appropriate for all students,” she says. “Relevant topics and process skills integrate well into science, social studies, and language arts. In Georgia, the program takes many formats, from small, competitive teams to whole content-area-classroom study and even after-school enrichment programs. It is flexible and inexpensive to implement--but not easy.”
During the school year, teams work to find solutions for futuristic challenges in three topic areas. This year these topics included sports medicine, e-commerce, nanotechnology and DNA identification. The topic for the international conference is worldwide communication. The program is sponsored by the Torrance Center.
Students will participate in team problem-solving and individual competition on April 25 from 4 to 6:15 p.m. at Aderhold Hall and the College of Veterinary Medicine. Winners of the scenario writing and the community problem solving components will be honored at a luncheon from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on April 26 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. Salley Krisel, gifted education specialist at the Georgia Department of Education, will present awards to the state winners at 2:30 p.m. in the center’s Mahler Auditorium.
The Future Problem Solving Program was begun in 1974 by Torrance as a curriculum project at Clarke Central High School in Athens. Over the years, the project has developed into organized FPS programs in 41 states and in Australia and New Zealand. The international organization is housed at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Approximately 200,000 students from all 50 states, five Canadian provinces and 14 foreign countries are currently involved in this challenging and exciting program. |
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