What is your experience with video game learning supports? Which principles (Mayer’s and Merrill’s) seem to be commonly applied in in-game support and which ones are often missed in your experience?

Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning and Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction are frequently included in video game learning tools, particularly in educational games.

According to me, the Mayers principle is applied more in in-game support and Merill’s principle is the one that is often missed out.

Commonly used Mayer’s principle

The Multimedia principle is used in Text, graphics, and audio due to which they are organically integrated into games, providing a multimodal learning experience.

The coherence principle is effective in-game assistance and often focuses on pertinent information while eliminating irrelevant stuff.

It is only due to the Personalization principle that many games adhere to this notion by employing a conversational tone and sympathetic characters.

Commonly missed Mayer’s Principle:

The modality Principle states that a dependence on text or pictures without a balanced approach might stymie learning.

The segmenting principle states that In certain games, information is shown in huge quantities without allowing players to analyze it in parts.

Commonly used Merill’sprinciples :

The demonstration principle is the principle that is used the most.in this principle, Tutorials and instructions in-game frequently teach how to do certain tasks or solve difficulties.

On the other hand, the most popular principle is the Task Centered Principle, in which the games often entail the completion of certain tasks, which corresponds to learning by doing.

There are also some of Merill’s principles that are often missed :

The application principle is often missed. This principle states that not all games allow players to apply what they’ve learned in different circumstances, which might impede deeper knowledge and skill transfer.

The integration principle is also not used that much which states that Many games lack tools that encourage players to think on and apply what they’ve learned in larger contexts.

To conclude, Mayer’s concepts are more naturally linked with the multimedia aspect of video games, therefore they are more typically used in in-game support. The Mayer’s Principle is used more than the Merill’s.

here is my learning template:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-0TcrX7sPb77xh1sZZE1BYy-3FtBTzm2CKDG1p76hHA/edit?usp=sharing