If you’re not familiar with skydiving, it may surprise you to know that it takes only 6 hours of training on the ground before you’re ready to be kicked out of a plane from 6000 feet (without an instructor strapped to your back).

No, you won’t be provided with either a manual or a YouTube playlist depending on your learning style. That’s because the most effective way to learn how to skydive is to jump out of a plane, open the parachute, fly it to the drop zone, try not to break a leg while landing.

So, to teach effectively first answer: “What do I want people to be able to do?”

Then: “How can I create a learning environment that is as close to the real thing as I can make it?”

Sometimes the answer is “Show them a YouTube video.” Sometimes it’s “Kick them out of a plane.”