The purpose of this study was to design and develop a multimedia-based anchored program and to examine the effects of students' and group characteristics on the problem-solving process in anchored instruction with the multimedia program in a situated learning environment. Sixty-eight students were assigned to small groups via a stratified random sampling procedure. The students were working cooperatively as a group on the authentic task of multimedia-based anchored instruction. The results of the analysis show that group composition as well as students' characteristics significantly exerted differential effects on the problem-solving process. The implications of the results for anchored instruction are discussed. (Contains 28 references and 2 tables.) (Author)