A unique PhD at Stellenbosch and Coventry Universities PhD explores how storytelling, imagination, and tabletop role-playing games can unlock learning and transform the thesis itself into an adventure.

A non-verbal teenager finds their voice. A homeschooled learner develops a love for journaling. And long-standing tensions between a group of teenagers begin to fade as they learn to work together.

It sounds like the outcome of an intensive educational or even psychological intervention. But all of this happened around a table in Gordon's Bay, where a diverse group of teenagers spent ten weeks playing Dungeons & Dragons.

This project became the focus of a unique doctoral study by Willie Knoetze, a researcher at Stellenbosch University (SU). It is one of the most unconventional PhDs to emerge from the partnership between Stellenbosch University and Coventry University in the UK.

His research asked a simple but important question: What happens when people play tabletop role-playing games?

The answer, it turns out, is far more than most people imagine.

A PhD born around a gaming table

Knoetze's journey began in 2017 while he was completing his master's degree.

A friend invited him to join a Dungeons & Dragons game, and he was quickly drawn in by the collaborative storytelling at the table. It has been almost a decade since the first game, and the same group still meets to play.

As a teacher, teacher educator, and game design lecturer, Knoetze started to notice something interesting. "Every time we played, I found myself thinking: you could teach a lesson with this."

The more he played, the more he saw learning opportunities in the game. Players negotiated, solved problems, wrote stories, communicated, worked together, and came up with creative solutions to surprises.

Eventually, a map unfolded - one that became an integrated navigation tool - the main feature - of his final dissertation.

Instead of asking how to design games for learning, Knoetze wanted to see what learning was already happening when people just played.

They found me

Initially, Knoetze planned to conduct his research in schools, but in the end, the participants found him.

A tutor working with a self-organised homeschooling group in Gordon's Bay heard about the project and mentioned it to the learners. They immediately wanted in. The group reflected South Africa’s diversity. The learners were between 14 and 17 years old, came from different racial and cultural backgrounds, spoke different home languages, and brought a wide range of life experiences.

For ten weeks, they met once a week to play a fantasy adventure, with Knoetze as the Game Master. The sessions were recorded, and learners kept journals from their characters’ perspectives; interviews were conducted throughout the project.

What happened was much more than just a game.

One learner who first saw themselves as non-verbal slowly became one of the most active in the group. Another picked up reflective journaling, a habit that lasted long after the project. Learners who had trouble connecting started working together, solving problems, and seeing themselves as a team.

"The game created a safe space where everyone could contribute," says Knoetze. "People discovered abilities they didn't know they had."

The findings supported what many educators have long believed: storytelling, play, and imagination can be powerful tools for learning.

The partnership that made it possible

But maybe the most surprising part is that the project almost didn’t happen the way it did.

After SU approved his doctoral proposal, Knoetze realised he needed expert guidance in game-based learning and educational game design. Since he couldn’t find the right supervision locally, he began exploring opportunities through SU’s international partnerships.

That search led him to Professor Sylvester Arnab and the Ludic Design Lab at Coventry University - a collaboration that changed the whole “game”.

Through the dual-award doctoral program, Knoetze gained access to international experts, new perspectives, and an academic environment that encouraged experimentation. "Sometimes it wasn't about being told what to do," he says. "It was about having people who could help me think through the possibilities."

The partnership also opened the door to a unique final thesis.

A thesis designed like an adventure

Most doctoral theses follow a set path. You start at the beginning and read straight through to the end.

Knoetze’s thesis lets readers choose their own path or adventure.

The work opens with an illustrated fantasy map titled A Player's Map of an Adventurer's Thesis, inspired by a quote from the 13th-century poet Rumi:

"Your graceful manner gives colour and fragrance, as creekwater animates a landscape it moves through."

The map acts as a kind of "ludic cartography," or a visual guide to help readers navigate the research.

Readers can follow different paths through the thesis based on their interests. Examiners can read it in order. Practitioners can go straight to the practical tools. Storytellers can dive into participant stories, and researchers can follow the new methods behind the work.

Throughout the thesis, icons guide readers to research questions, participant stories, key ideas, new methods, and practical resources.

The thesis becomes a gaming experience, immersing you in a new world of imagination - an open invitation to play, one that is hard to resist.

From fantasy worlds to real-world learning

At the heart of the thesis is the Fable Framework, a practical tool Knoetze developed that works with almost any tabletop role-playing game.

One of its standout features is a foldable 20-sided dice that educators, facilitators, and players can print, assemble, and throw.

Each side has a learning prompt that sparks reflection, creativity, and deeper engagement. A player might be asked to write a journal entry from their character’s point of view, invent a new creature, think about a decision they made in the game, or imagine how things could have gone differently.

These activities turn regular gameplay into chances for language development, creative writing, critical thinking, and self-reflection.

Importantly, the framework doesn’t need much to get started. You do not need expensive technology or equipment, not even data! All you need is a story, a few friends, a dice, and a willingness to play. O yes, and you need to open your imagination door.

I want to play with the world

The research is already making an impact beyond Knoetze’s PhD. Building on the project, Stellenbosch University and Coventry University recently received British Council funding to develop pilot programs that introduce game-based learning into schools and other educational settings.

Says Knoetze: “The goal is to help educators, schools, and communities design their own learning experiences using the ideas from the research.”

For him, however, the vision remains deeply human as he dreams of creating a space where people can gather to learn, play, tell stories and connect with one another.

"I want to play with the world, and I want the world to learn from it," he says.

After years of research, hundreds of hours of gameplay, many interviews, and one extraordinary doctoral journey, he has reached a surprisingly simple conclusion.

Learning doesn’t always start with a textbook.

It starts with a story, a few friends around a table, and the courage to roll the dice.

From there, imagination takes over.