They discuss some of their research findings on what is effective in learning games, and also assessment and learning mechanics. For example, some people like to learn by exploring and don’t want to be told how to do it. Others are the opposite — they don’t want to waste time re-learning the wheel and would rather have you tell them how to do it. I’ve observed this too. I consider it an important “learning style” and one not covered by the seven learning styles such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc. I forget the fellow who came up with those.
They also coin the terms assessment and learning mechanics for game rules that might affect the way the player learns and how effective your game can assess the player’s skills. They cite an example geometry game where you calculate angles. If you ask for the angle a number, you are testing both their ability to choose and apply the geometric theorem, and also their addition. So if they get the question wrong, you are not sure where they failed. If you change the game so they just choose the theorem that applies, a wrong answer is a better indicator of misunderstanding. Someone in the audience points out, however, that you must balance your assessment mechanics with the game mechanics too–your game needs to be fun as well as a good assessment. Sometimes you have to compromise one for the other.