Methods of teaching.

[cuivien2]

I think that group discussion as a general idea is good, no matter the subject. However, in order to have a good discussion, people need to have a foundation from proper lecturing.
I never profited on "teacher asks the class questions", b.c. (like others have said) either a few smart ppl take over and answer, or the dumb kids cause irritation with the lecturer, causing him to discontinue the questioning.

In my courses in British literature, the guy in charge always set a date for lecturing pretty much in the middle of time spent on reading a novel, then maybe a week later, we took a step back and used the background information given by the lecturer as well as our own opinions, had a general discussion, then he went back to lecturing and focused on maybe one or two problem areas/topics that we had raised during the discussion. I found that a really good way to learn, and was most dissapointed when the next course in American literature (British in the fall, American in spring semester) featured a boring guy who's basic approach was "read the book, write a paper. I correct it based on my own opinions"