Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a contemporary teaching approach that has become increasingly applied way of academic education since its beginnings in the 1960s. Its popularity has grown since 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 cognition, however, has been applied almost exclusively to adult education. In this paper we examine the introduction of multimedia to enhance computer-based 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.