Software Engineering Students’ Perceptions for a 3D Learning Environment Regarding Anxiety

Anxiety is prominent among university students and can cause many problems in students’ mental life. It is more important than ever to promote positive mental health in young people in a way that is understandable, reliable, and accessible. The PLAY learning environment was created to help students deal with their anxiety. Students can decide to either play a game scenario that simulates a stressful situation -in the context of academic life- and learn by doing or participate in an anonymous virtual counseling session and discuss their anxiety issues with a counselor. This paper examines whether such an environment can increase anxiety awareness and whether it helps students develop coping mechanisms. It also explores whether a virtual world is a proper medium to deal with anxiety issues. The paper presents the results from the evaluation from students from the Computer Engineering and Informatics Department of the University of Patras that offered early feedback on the PLAY environment. Regarding anonymous counseling, we present our findings concerning the viability of online counseling in a 3D virtual environment.