We briefly review the main problems related to the computation of the evolution of intermediate-mass stars: the treatment of turbulent convection and the occurrence of blue loops during the core He-burning phase. It is shown that, in order to obtain more accurate and reliable stellar models for this class of stars, one has to consider all possible theoretical and observational constraints. This includes observations of low-mass stars to constrain the treatment of envelope convection, and the analysis of the pulsational behaviour of Cepheid stars.