The implementation of the main principles of problem-based learning in the preclinical studies of medicine at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences is a challenge to the traditional system of studies (Šveikauskas, 2008). For this reason, special attention should be paid to the assessment of the process of problem-based learning in order to identify the advantages and the shortcomings of this process. 

The process of problem-based learning - which best meets the aims of modern medical education - is more significant for the development of students’ personalities than traditional subject-oriented teaching is because the latter is more or less dependent on the contents of the lecture and the presentation of the material. However, problem-based learning also requires certain competence from teachers and students – and most of the learners do not have such competence. Frequently, problems arise from the learners’ lack of motivation for a better understanding of the peculiarities of the problem-based learning system.

In the modern higher educational institution where the traditional teaching paradigm is being replaced by the learning paradigm, teachers are seen as developers of the educational environment, and thus their opinion is of special importance in order to reveal major problems in learning and to plan possibilities for a better organization of the process.

Research question:

This paper aims at answering the following question: what advantages and shortcomings of the problem-based learning process do teachers identify, and how do they associate these advantages and shortcomings with their aims in the problem-based learning process and with the improvement of their competence?

The studied sample consisted of university teachers preparing to be tutors.

Objective: to identify the advantages and shortcomings of the problem-based learning process on the basis of teachers’ approach.

Purpose:

1. To discuss the theoretical aspects      of the problem-based learning process and teachers’ attitude to their      activity.
2. To reveal      teachers’ approach to the problem-based learning process.
3. To identify the advantages      and shortcomings of the problem-based learning process (case X).

Conceptual or theoretical framework

The study was based on theoretical positions emphasizing changes in higher education, the learning paradigm, and the strategy of problem-based learning (Barman, Jaafar, Rahim, 2007; Beachey, 2007; Conway, Medville Williams, 1999; Foldevi, 1995; Jucevičienė, Gudaitytė, Karenauskaitė, Lipinskienė, Stanikūnienė, Tautkevičienė, 2010; Kirikova, Šveikauskas, Leonas, 2008; Sefton, 1997; Šveikauskas, 2005; Šveikauskas, Kirikova, Leonas, 2008; Wood, 2003; Woods,1994).

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