UNITE: Enhancing Students’ Self-efficacy through the Use of a 3D Virtual World Jim Scullion (University of the West of Scotland, Ayr, United Kingdom jim.scullion@uws.ac.uk) Gavin Baxter (University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, United Kingdom gavin.baxter@uws.ac.uk) Mark Stansfield (University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, United Kingdom mark.stansfield@uws.ac.uk) Abstract: This paper reviews a primarily quantitative empirical study involving 109 computing undergraduate students to assess whether the use of a 3D virtual world environment, implemented as part of their curriculum, could support the concept of self-efficacy. Whilst the role of self-efficacy within education in enhancing student motivation and learning has received increasing coverage over the last twenty years, its role within the context of 3D virtual worlds is still to be more fully explored. This study found that the use of a 3D virtual world for communication and collaboration improved students’ self-efficacy beliefs in relation to activities undertaken as part of collaborative team-based projects. The results indicate significant improvements between students’ pre-test and post-test self-efficacy ratings. Keywords: 3D virtual worlds, Open Wonderland, 3D virtual environment, collaborative learning, constructivist learning environments, educational software, game-based learning, human-computer interaction, multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), research methods, simulation, self-efficacy, virtual environment (VE), virtual learning community, virtual worlds (VW). Categories: L.2.3, L.2.7, L.3.0, L.3.3, L.3.6, L.5.1, L.6.2 1 Introduction Research has documented the importance of effective team working in relation to the success of organisations [Salas, 08; Todorova, 08; Wuchty, 07]. Specifically in relation to computing, the British Computer Society [McManus, 08] identifies a number of reasons for IT project failures. These include: insufficient communication between project team members and end users; poor delegation and poor decision making. The Confederation of British Industry [Confederation of British Industry, 11], has criticised graduates for their inability to work effectively in a team. [Hollan, 92; Salomon, 10] have suggested that communication and collaboration are optimised when participants are present in the same physical place at the same time. [Kahai, 07; Papamichail, 09] have contended that the features of virtual worlds offer a rich range of possibilities for virtual team collaboration and experiential learning. Journal of Universal Computer Science, vol. 21, no. 12 (2015), 1635-1653 submitted: 17/10/14, accepted: 29/9/15, appeared: 1/12/15  J.UCS