For all our work to make training fun and engaging, we know that learning and transfer are the "holy grail" of training and development.  Imagine our delight, then, at this scenario:

We were in Orlando for the ATD International Conference, setting up for our session on "Revitalizing RolePlay".  The speaker who preceded us was packing up his materials as we were setting up ours, and we started chatting.  He was none other than Jack Phillips ... yes, that Jack Phillips ... of evaluation renown.  Jack is best known for expanding on Kirkpatrick's 4 levels of training evaluation (Reaction-Learning-Behavior-Results) to add a fifth level, Return on Investment (ROI).  When he learned what our topic was, he said, "I'm so glad people are still talking about roleplay.  It remains one of the single best ways to measure learning in the classroom."  

So, don't take it just from us ... take it from one of our industry's top experts!  RolePlay -- what we typically call Skill Practice -- is one of the best ways to determine what participants are learning in the training classroom.  Level 2 evaluation.

If accompanied by pre-training measures and observations of behavior, the skills practiced during training can easily point to behavioral changes after the session has ended. This takes an extra measure of planning and follow-up on your part but is well worth the effort.  Level 3 evaluation.

So brush off your role-plays, and introduce some solid skill practice into your training. This technique may pre-date modern training technology, but it has stood the test of time as an effective learning method.  Levels 2 and 3 ... that, my friends, is a vast improvement over smile sheets and feedback about the snacks that were served!