Abstract: Objective To explore the influence of PBL teacher’s age, academic title and expertise on tutor performance evaluation by medical students in School of Basic Medical Sciences at Peking University. Methods Evaluation scores of PBL tutor performance by medical students from February 2012 to June 2013 were analyzed. Results The evaluation scores of tutors with the title of professor were higher than that of teachers with the title of associate professor and lecturer. Performance scores by students were higher in the tutor group with the age over 50 years. Significant difference in two tutor rating parameters, i.e. preparation & attitude and communication & feedback, was observed between tutors with and without expertise close to the PBL teaching content. Conclusion Differences in tutor evaluation by medical students emphasize necessity of adopting different strategies by the school to train tutors with different academic ranks and professional backgrounds. The results of the study have direct implications for PBL faculty development.

Key words: Problem based learning, evaluation, academic title, expertise