Purpose: This article is aimed at those who undertake a transition to probl
em-based learning (PBL) and focuses on 3 questions that seem most pertinent
to the effort: (a) what is known from past research about training faculty
in the skills of PBL?, (b) what skills are important to teach faculty and
how does one teach them?, and (c) what options are available for training f
aculty in PBL?
Summary: The success of any PBL curricular initiative requires the assistan
ce of faculty skilled in PBL. The development of faculty with such skills m
ust be a primary and ongoing concern of programs or schools launching such
efforts. This article describes the research associated with training facul
ty to conduct PBL, the skills to be taught, and the training options availa
ble.
Conclusions: Few studies document the impact of PBL faculty development str
ategies. Many faculty experience a difficult transition when retraining to
PBL. Training faculty for PBL is often taken to mean training them to be tu
tors, but there are more skills involved in implementing PBL. Finally, ther
e is an implied sequence to training faculty to implement PBL.