A video game teaches a player through game play, assesses the player's learning, and determines how fast the player is learning and whether the player is learning faster. The learning assessment is used to determine how fast the player is learning, and the determination of how fast the player is learning is used to determine whether the player is learning faster. Alternatively, a video game player performs one or more attempts to overcome a challenge corresponding to the satisfaction of a predetermined game condition. A learning award is derived for each attempt where the predetermined game condition is satisfied based upon the player's performance in satisfying the game condition. A learning velocity is derived as a function of change in the learning award from a different attempt. A learning acceleration can also be derived for each attempt as a function of change in the learning velocity.