Using Multimedia to Enhance Problem-Based Learning in Elementary School

Abstract

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a contemporary teaching approach that has become an increasingly applied way of academic education since its beginnings in the 1960s. Its popularity grew when it was introduced into medical education and spread to various fields in the last decades. This small group learning approach using major principles of situated learning and situated cognition, however, has been applied almost exclusively to adult education. In this article we examine the introduction of multimedia to enhance computerbased PBL in elementary school. We compared a PBL-class with a traditional lecture-based class of fourth-graders from a German elementary school. An analysis of cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational outcomes revealed some benefits of self-directed learning in the PBL-class compared to the control class.